The Prehistoric Animal Ecology and Ethnozoology of the Upper Great Lakes Region 9781951519391, 9781949098167
Charles Edward Cleland presents an analysis of the paleoecology and ethnozoology of the Upper Great Lakes from about 12,
190 103 14MB
English Pages [307] Year 1966
Polecaj historie
Table of contents :
Contents
I. Introduction
The Modern Biotic Communities of the Upper Great Lakes
The Carolinian Biotic Province
The Canadian Biotic Province
The Hudsonian Biotic Province
The Illinoian Biotic Province
II. Paleoecology
The Boreal Woodland Period: 12,000 B.C. - 9,000 B.C.
The Boreal Forest Period: 9,000 B.C. - 7,000 B.C.
The Pine Forest Period: 7,000 B.C. - 3,500 B.C.
The Oak and Pine Forest Period: 3,500 B.C. - Present
Climatic Fluctuation of the Oak and Pine Forest Period
Xerothermic Maximum: 2,300 B.C. - 1,800 B.C.
Cool Episode: 1,800 B.C. - 1,300 B.C.
Late Archaic Episode 1,300 B.C. - 800 B.C.
Cool Episode: 800 B.C. - 300 B.C.
Hopewell Episode: 300 B.C. - A.D. 300
Scandic Episode: A.D. 300 - A.D. 800
Neo-Atlantic Episode: A.D. 800 - A.D. 1200
Protohistoric and Historic Climatic Episode: A.D. 1200 - A.D. 1700
III. Ethnozoology
The Identification and Analysis of Faunal Remains
Focal and Diffuse Economies
Paleo-Indian Cultures: 10,000 B.C. - 8,000 B.C.
Early Archaic Cultures: 8,000 B.C. - 6,000 B.C.
Middle Archaic Cultures: 6,000 B.C. - 3,000 B.C.
Late Archaic Cultures: 3,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C
Early Woodland Cultures: 1,000 B.C. - 300 B.C.
Middle Woodland Cultures: 300 B.C. - A.D. 400
Late Woodland and Upper Mississippian Cultures: A.D. 400 - A.D. 1650
IV. Summary and Conclusions
Paleo-Indian Cultures: 12,000 B.C. - 9,000 B.C.
Early Archaic Cultures: 9,000 B.C. - 7,000 B.C.
Middle Archaic Cultures: 7,000 B.C. - 3,000 B.C.
Late Archaic Cultures 3,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C.
Early Woodland Cultures 1,000 B.C. - 300 B.C.
Middle Woodland Cultures 300 B.C. - A.D. 400
Late Woodland and Upper Mississippian Cultures: A.D. 400 - A.D. 1650
Appendix A. Re-analysis of Faunal Remains from Raddatz Rockshelter, Sauk County, Wisconsin
Appendix B. Animal Remains from the Feeheley, Hart and Schmidt Sites, Saginaw County, Michigan
Appendix C. Analysis of the Animal Remains at the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan
Appendix D. Faunal Remains from the Mero and Heins Creek Sites, Door County, Wisconsin
Appendix E. Faunal Remains from the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan
Appendix F. Analysis of the Fauna of the Moccasin Bluff Site, Berrien County, Michigan
Appendix G. Distribution of Various Animal Species According to Biotic Province
Appendix H. Habitat Preference of Some of the Animal Species of the Eastern United States
Appendix I. Archaeological Occurrence of Various Vertebrate Species of the Eastern United States
Literature Cited
Citation preview
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN NO. 29
THE PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY AND ETHNOZOOLOGY OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES REGION
by CHARLES EDWARD CLELAND
ANN ARBOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 1966
© 1966 by the Regents of the University of Michigan The Museum of Anthropology All rights reserved ISBN (print): 978-1-949098-16-7 ISBN (ebook): 978-1-951519-39-1 Browse all of our books at sites.lsa.umich.edu/archaeology-books. Order our books from the University of Michigan Press at www.press.umich.edu. For permissions, questions, or manuscript queries, contact Museum publications by email at [email protected] or visit the Museum website at lsa.umich.edu/ummaa.
PREFACE Much of the data which serves as the basis of this volume was collected as a part of a research program designed to investigate the relationship between the post glacial ecologies and prehistoric cultures of the Upper Great Lakes area. This program was lllldertaken by the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Michigan between 1960 and 1964 with the support of the National Science FolUldation. The falUlal reports, which are included here as appendices, were compiled during the course of this project and were intended to be included in the archaeological site reports of other participants in the program. It soon became apparent that these collected fallllal reports not only provided sufficient information for an independent study but that such a study had the potential of contributing to our understanding of environmental change in the Great Lakes region and the ways in which man dealt with the resources of his natural surrolUldings through the adaptation of his culture. This study was completed in 1966 and submitted to the University of Michigan as a doctoral dissertation. During the preparation of the drafts of this study my doctoral committee offered many suggestions, most of these were useful and all were appreciated. Thanks is, therefore, gratefully extended to the members of this committee which included Dr. William H. Burt, Dr. James E. Fitting, Dr. Arthur J. Jelinek and Volney H. Jones lUlder the able chairmanship of Dr. James B. Griffin. Many others have also· contributed to this document in a variety of ways. Joan Kearney identified many of the animal bones from the Schultz Site and helped in compiling much of the quantitative data presented in these pages. Her skill and dedication to these often laborious tasks in commendable. Patricia Hughes devoted herself to the difficult job of proof-reading and criticising the original manuscript, and her help and good judgment is greatly appreciated. Linda Britton deserves credit for the final editing of the present volume. I am also indebted to Lyle Stone, Peter Murray and George Stuber for their artistic contributions. G. Richard Peske, Dr. iii
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Warren Wittry and Dr. Paul Parmalee were all kind enough to permit free use of their unpublished data. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the help, support and wise advice given to me over a number of years by my wife, Mary, my father, Charles E. Cleland, and by my teachers, James B. Griffin, Charles R. McGimsey III and Robert Alrutz. To these friends I owe my greatest debt.
Charles E. Cleland
iv
CONTENTS I. Introduction. . . . . .
1
The Modern Biotic Communities of the Upper Great Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . The Carolinian Biotic Province . . . . . The Canadian Biotic Province . . . . . . The Hudsonian Biotic Province . The Illinoian Biotic Province . . II. Paleoecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Boreal Woodland Period: 12,000 B.C. - 9,000 B.C. The Boreal Forest Period: 9,000 B.C. - 7,000 B.C.. . The Pine Forest Period: 7,000 B.C. - 3,500 B.C. . . . The Oak and Pine Forest Period: 3,500 B.C. -Present Climatic Fluctuation of the Oak and Pine Forest Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xerothermic Maximum: 2,300 B.C.- 1,800 B.C. Cool Episode: 1,800 B.C. - 1,300 B.C. . . . . . . Late Archaic Episode: 1,300 B.C.- 800 B.C.. Cool Episode: 800 B.C. - 300 B.C. . . . . Hopewell Episode: 300 B.C. - A.D. 300 . . . . . . Scandic Episode: A.D. 300 - A.D. 800 . . . . . Neo-Atlantic Episode: A.D. 800 - A.D. 1200. . . Protohistoric and Historic Climatic Episode: A.D. 1200 - A.D. 1700 III. Ethnozoology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Identification and Analysis of Faunal Remains . Focal and Diffuse Economies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paleo-Indian Cultures: 10,000 B.C. - 8,000 B.C.. . Early Archaic Cultures: 8,000 B.C. - 6,000 B.C.. . Middle.Archaic Cultures: 6,000 B.C. - 3,000 B.C.. . Late Archaic Cultures: 3,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C. . . . Early Woodland Cultures: 1,000 B.C. - 300 B.C.. . Middle Woodland Cultures: 300 B.C. - A.D. 400 . . Late Woodland and Upper Mississippian Cultures: A.D. 400 - A.D. 1650 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
4 7 9
11 11
13 14 20 20 23 25 26 26 26 27 28 30 31 34 37 39 42 45 48 50 54 58 60 68
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
vi
IV. Summary and Conclusions
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Paleo-Indian Cultures: 12,000 B.C. - 9,000 B.C.. Early Archaic Cultures: 9,000 B.C. - 7,000 B.C.. Middle Archaic Cultures: 7,000 B.C. - 3,000 B.C.. . . Late Archaic Cultures: 3,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C. . Early Woodland Cultures: 1,000 B.C. - 300 B.C.. . Middle Woodland Cultures: 300 B.C. - A.D. 400 . . Late Woodland and Upper Mississippian Cultures: A.D. 400 - A.D. 1650 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Appendix G Appendix H Appendix I
91 91 92 92 93 93 94 95
Re-analysis of Faunal Remains from Raddatz Rockshelter, Sauk County, Wisconsin. . . . . . .
98
Animal Remains from the Feeheley, Hart and Schmidt Sites, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . .
109
Analysis of the Animal Remains at the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . . . . . .
117
Faunal Remains from the Mero and Heins Creek Sites, Door County, Wisconsin. . .
145
Faunal Remains from the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan . . . . . . . . .
157
Analysis of the Fauna of the Moccasin Bluff Site, Berrien County, Michigan. . . . . . .
211
Distribution of Various Animal Species According to Biotic Province . . . . . . . .
224
Habitat Preference of Some of the Animal Species of the Eastern United States . . . . . . .
245
Archaeological Occurrence of Various Vertebrate Species of the Eastern United States
247
Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
275
TABLES
1. 2.
Radiocarbon Dates of Animal Remains of the Upper Great Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
Percentage of Meat Represented by the Animal Bones at the Spoonville Site, Ottawa County, Michigan. . . . .
64
CONTENTS
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12.
13. 14. 15.
16.
17. 18.
vii
Frequency of Animal Bones in the Fill of the Norton Mounds, Kent County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . .
65
Faunal Remains from the Silver Lake Site, Oceana County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
Percentage of Mammalian Species in the Sites of the Oneota Tradition Compared with Cahokia. . . . . . .
83
Faunal Remains from the Lasley's Point Site, Winnebago County, Wisconsin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
Stratigraphic Occurrence of Animal Remains from the Raddatz Rockshelter, Sauk County, Wisconsin. . . . . .
100
Scoring of the Habitat Preferences of the Species of the Raddatz Rockshelter, Sauk County, Wisconsin. . . . . .
102
Amount of Meat Represented by the Animal Remains of Raddatz Rockshelter, Sauk County, Wisconsin. . . . . .
106
Number and Percent of the Total Number of Each of the Four Classes of Animals Recovered from the Feeheley Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . .
110
Terrestrial Gastropods from the Feeheley Site, Saginaw County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
112
Comparison of the Frequency of Classes of Animal Bone at the Feeheley, Hart and Schmidt Sites, Saginaw County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
114
Amounts of Meat in Pounds from the Different Species Found at the Schmidt Site, Saginaw County, Michigan.
115
Frequency of Occurrence of Animal Species from the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . . . . . .
119
The Order of Appearance of Animal Species in the Schultz Site Horizons Presented by the Frequency of Bone Representing Each Species . . . . . . . . . .
123
Frequency of Identified and Unidentified Animal Bone from Six Provenience Units of the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
129
Total Amount of Meat Produced by Each Class of Animals at the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan
130
Meat Derived from Mammals and Fish in Each Stratigraphic Level of the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
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19Ao Percentages of Meat Represented by the Faunal Remains of the Early Woodland Horizons at the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . . . . . .
135
19B. Percentages of Meat Represented by the Faunal Remains of the Middle Woodland Horizons at the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . . . . . .
136
19C. Percentages of Meat Represented by the Faunal Remains of the Late Woodland Horizons at the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan . . . . o .
138
0
20.
Percent of Pounds of Meat Represented in the Three Major Cultural Horizons at the Schultz Site, Sagio. . . naw County, Michigan o . . . . . . .
139
Animal Species from the Mero Site, Door County, o. . o .. o . . . . . . . . Wisconsin o .
146
Identified and Unidentifiable Bone from the Mero Site, Door County, Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . .
148
0
21.
0
22.
•
0
0
• • • •
0
••
••
23A. Pounds of Meat Represented by Various Classes of Animals at the Mero Site, Door County, Wisconsin
149
23B. Number of Identified Species of Each Class of Animals at the Mero Site, Door County, Wisconsin . . . . 0
•
•
•
149
23C. Number of Identified Individuals of Various Species of Each Class of Animals at the Mero Site, Door County, Wisconsin . . .
149
Animal Species from the Heins Creek Site, Door County, Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . .
151
0
24.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
0
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identified and Unidentified Animal Bone from the Heins Creek Site, Door County, Wisconsin. . . . .
152
26A. Pounds of Meat Represented by Various Classes of Animals at the Heins Creek Site, Door County, o. o. . . . . Wisconsin . . . . .
154
26B. Number of Identified Species of Each Class of Animals at the Heins Creek Site, Door County, Wisconsin. . . .
154
26C. Number of Identified Individuals of Various Species of Each Class of Animals at the Heins Creek Site, o. . Door County, Wisconsin . . . . . . . . .
154
25.
0
• • • • • • • • • • • •
0
27.
• • • •
Quantitative Comparison of Fauna of the Mero and Heins Creek Sites, Door County, Wisconsin .. o .
156
CONTENTS
28. 29. 30. 31. 32.
33. 34.
ix
Analysis of the Distribution and Habitats of the Juntunen Site Fauna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
178
Percentage of Species Occurring in Each Habitat Type Calculated by Occupation Level . . . . . . .
183
Quantitative Analysis of Species by Level from the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan . . . . .
185
The Relative Frequency of Identified Animal Species from the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan.
188
Quantitative Analysis of the Bones from Excavation Units from the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
190
Quantitative Analysis of Bone by Level from the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan. . .
192
Approximat~
Amount of Meat Supplied by the Most Important Game Species of the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan. . . . . . . . .
195
35.
Present Mammalian Fauna of Bois Blanc . . . . .
199
36.
Mollusca of the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
202
The Mean Values of Each Measurement of the Juntunen Site Dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
204
38.
Faunal Remains from the Moccasin Bluff Refuse Pits.
213
39.
The Amount of Meat Provided by Each Important Food Species from the Moccasin Bluff Site, Berrien County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
216
Metric Analysis of the Dog Mandibles from Moccasin Bluff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
221
37.
40.
FIGURES
1.
Biotic provinces of the Upper Great Lakes .
2.
Percentages of the habitat preferences of the vertebrates represented in each level of the Raddatz Rockshelter Sauk County, Wisconsin. . . . . . . . . .
103
Percent of meat derived from fish and mammals in various stratigraphic units of the Schultz Site, Saginaw County, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
133
3.
8
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
X
4.
5.
Percentage of species in each biotic province and habitat type by occupation levels at the Juntunen Site, Mackinac County, Michigan . . . . . . . . . .
182
The frequency of right and left deer mandibles in various age classes from the Moccasin Bluff Site, Berrien County, Michigan. . . . . . .
218
I INTRODUCTION
The plants and animals which inhabit the land areas of the world are not, as we all know, randomly distributed over the face of the globe. Most organisms tend to occur in association with certain other plants and animals which have become adapted to similar conditions of climate, soH and physiography. More important, these species become adapted to each other and by virtue of these interlocking relationships form delicately balanced natural communities. Although man is not as rigidly bound to his environment as the fauna and flora around him, he does adapt to the natural community in which he lives. Neither the natural environment nor human culture can be understood without knowledge of the effect of each upon the other. Herein lies the basic premise of this study. To understand culture we must investigate it in an environmental matrix viewing both external stimuli and the adaptive responses which they invoke. This idea was concisely stated by A. L. Kroeber (1939:1) in the introduction to his classic work Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America: the present work in no sense represents a relapse toward the old environmentalism which believed it could find the causes of culture in environment. While it is true that cultures are rooted in nature, and can therefore never be completely understood except with reference to that piece of nature in which they occur, they are no more produced by that nature than a plant is produced or caused by the soil in which it is rooted. The immediate causes of cultural phenomena are other cultural phenomena. At any rate, no anthropologist can assume anything else as his specific working basis. But this does not prevent the recognition of relations between nature and culture nor the importance of these relations to the full understanding of culture.
If environment, which in the broadest sense includes not only natural but cultural phenomena as well, is the basis for cultural
2
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
adaptation, then we must explore the nature of adaptation as a phenomenon of interaction between the environment and a cultural system. White (1949:366) has envisioned a culture as an interaction between three subsystems or horizontal strata. The technological layer is on the bottom articulating closely with the natural environment, the sociological stratum overlies this and is, in turn, over lain by the ideological stratum. As we proceed from technology to ideology, the effect of the environment becomes progressively weakened, yet each subsystem conditions the other. It is the technology, however, which is the strongest determining factor for the cultural system as a whole. As appealing as this analogy may be to archaeologists, Harding (Sahlins and Service 1960:48) points out that White is discussing culture as a closed system while adaptive phenomena are functions of open systems: Adaptation to nature will shape a culture's technology and derivatively its social and ideological components. Yet adaptation to other cultures may shape society and ideology which in turn act upon technology and determine its further course. The total result of the adaptive process is the production of an organized cultural whole, an integrated technology, society, and ideology, which copes with the dual selective influences of nature on the one hand and the impact of outside cultures on the other. Such are, in general outline, the mechanics of cultural adaptation.
The study of cultural adaptation is, thus, a wholistic one, a study of integrated systems. It is also a study of dynamic systems, a study which must place culture in a temporal-spatial context. Mason (1896), Wissler (1917}, and other pioneer anthropologists who first undertook the correlation of cultural and natural phenomena did not adopt this view. The.se investigators were concerned with the spatial distribution of cultural traits or trait complexes. It remained for Kroeber (1939) to develop fully the culture area concept by relating cultural systems to natural areas in a spatial context. Kroeber's study was an important contribution because it dealt with cultural adaptations rather than the distribution of cultural traits. Jenks' (1900} earlier study of the Wisconsin wild rice area, and Steward's (1938) study of the cultures of the Great Basin utilized this approach within limited geographic areas. Driver and Massey's (1957) recent compendium on North American Indians reverts to the trait-listing approach to culture areas. This study of the Upper Great Lakes region is designed to add a temporal dimension to the relationship between the cultural and natural areas.
INTRODUCTION
3
Since the advent of radiocarbon dating, archaeologists have been able to establish firm control over the temporal as well as the spatial dimensions of the data which their excavations produce. Prehistoric cultures can now be examined as dynamic, adaptive systems, systems which have limits in both time and space. The archaeologist cannot excavate the non-material parts of a culture, however. These he must infer from the relationship which exists between material objects he recovers and the context in which they are found. Consequently, those areas of culture which would be placed in the ideological subsystem are extremely difficult to reconstruct since they are least seldom manifested in material objects. Attitudes about deer, copper ore, or the after life may or may not be indicated by deer bone, copper tools, or burial goods, And though social and political systems are very often directly and vitally related to game populations and hunting practices, it is often misleading to infer these systems from the shape of projectile points or the habits of the game animals represented in an archaeological site. Fortunately, the relationship between man and his environment is most directly expressed by elements of the technological subsystem, and this subsystem may be accurately reconstructed from the recovered material culture. It is through this subsystem of culture that man articulates directly with his environment. It is with technological elements that he provides warmth, food, and shelter for himself and assures his survival in his natural environment. The recovery of arrow points and quantities of burned deer bone from archaeological sites assures us that people of this culture hunted deer with a bow and arrow, that they were competent enough in the use of this weapon to kill deer, and finally, that the deer meat was consumed as food. It is also important that archaeological data permit statements about the geographic and temporal distribution of such a technological and economic pattern. If, for example, we have a series of prehistoric cultural complexes of known time span, and a wide distribution in space, it may be possible to record the time of the introduction of hunting deer with bows and arrows, and to trace the spread and evolution of this hunting technique. Mac White (1956) has discussed in some detail the levels of archaeological interpretation for predocumentary periods in view of latitudes of inference from material remains. This study is focused on the prehistoric ecology and ethnozoology of the Upper Great Lakes area. It is designed to view
4
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
the prehistoric cultures of this area as dynamic adaptive systems in terms of both space and time. Prefaced in the belief that culture, past or present, can be fully understood only in terms of the natural environment in which it occurs, this study will explore the relationship between prehistoric culture and prehistoric ecology. Even though this relationship may be expressed completely in technological terms, an adaptive or ecological approach requires exploration of its non-material phases. For this reason, speculation on the non-material aspects of the prehistoric cultures under consideration will be freely offered. The basic data for this study is a series of reports on faunal remains from a number of Upper Great Lakes sites. Each report is a statement of the prehistoric animal ecology of the site area at the time the site was occupied and of the relationship between the culture(s) of the site and its natural environment(s). These site reports are included as appendices. From these and other published sources, a body of data is available which permits conclusions about the changing ecology of the Upper Great Lakes area through time. This information is presented in the section on paleoecology. Ji prehistoric cultures were adapted to a particular ecological situations, then changes in the environment would logically produce cultural changes. Cultural changes, on the other hand, would also have an effect on the environmental relationship and, in some cases, might even change the natural environment. Consideration of these factors is presented in the section called Ethnozoology of the Upper Great Lakes.
The Modern Biotic Communities of the Upper Great Lakes Geographically, the Upper Great Lakes area may be defined as that region which comprises the watersheds of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron. The drainage basins of these lakes cover 220,480 square miles including both peninsulas of Michigan, eastern and northern Wisconsin, the eastern tip of Minnesota, and those areas of Ontario which border Lake Superior and Lake Huron (Figure 1). Within this relatively small area, there are such drastic changes from south to north that it is impossible to discuss the climate, physiography, ecology, or the prehistoric cultures of this region as a static whole. The Upper Great Lakes region is in every sense of the word an area of transition.
INTRODUCTION
5
The modern natural communities of the Upper Great Lakes can be broadly classified into four large, relatively homogenous assemblages which have been called biotic provinces. Dice (1943) observed that communities of plants and animals must differ from region to region in correspondence with the regional distribution of climate and of the other features of the physical habitat. Each major ecologic division of a continent that covers a continuous geographic area may be called a biotic province. These four biotic provinces are the Carolinian, Illinoian, Canadian, and Hudsonian. Strictly speaking, the Canadian biotic province covers nearly all of the drainage system of the Upper Great Lakes. It is bordered on the south by the Carolinian province, on the west and southwest by the Illinoian province, and on the north by the Hudsonian province. Although these latter communities have their major distribution outside of the Upper Great Lakes watershed, it is essential that they be considered in this study since the fauna and flora of the Canadian biotic province are, in fact, composed of elements which have their widest distribution in either the Carolinian or Hudsonian provinces. Thus, the Canadian province is, itself, a transitional community. There is, of course, another equally important reason why these two large marginal provinces must be discussed. If we are to consider the distribution of former climates and their effects on plantanimal associations, then changes toward either cooler or warmer climatic conditions would logically result in either the southward or northward mobility of all three of these biotic communities. Certainly, there were times after the retreat of glacial ice when most of the drainage basin of the Upper Great Lakes fell almost entirely within either the Hudsonian or Carolinian biotic provinces. Grouping the natural communities of the Upper Great Lakes into only four biotic communities appears to border on the absurd, yet, like all classificatory systems, these groupings are an expedient method of eliminating unruly variables. The biotic provinces are, themselves, composed of many discrete, smaller natural communities, each occurring where local conditions of soil and climate afford the proper medium for the growth and propagation of that community. While these smaller local communities were undoubtedly important to the prehistoric people of the Upper Great Lakes, our techniques for delimiting their extent and distribution are as minimal as is our knowledge of their role in prehistoric cultures. Since the available paleoecological data lend themselves to the discussion of large biotic communities,
6
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
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INTRODUCTION
7
and since the culture area comcept seems to indicate that communities of this order of magnitude did exert certain influences on prehistoric cultures, the biotic province will be used in this study as the most meaningful unit of ecological reference. However, when the data lends itself to the investigation of smaller natural communities within these provinces, every effort will be made to evaluate their relevance to prehistoric culture. It is, after all, from these small communities that the fauna and flora of archaeological sites is primarily drawn. Before discussing the biotic provinces themselves, mention must be made of the natural communities which frequently characterize the transition from one to another. These communities called ecotones, edges, or transition zones, are composed of floral and faunal elements typically associated with the larger communities which form them. Edge communities vary in width from a few miles to hundreds of miles, depending upon climatic and physiographic factors. In some areas the transition from one biotic province to another does not involve a discrete edge community but takes place gradually over a long distance. On the other hand, edges may be sharp and well-defined, such as the one which has developed between the Carolinian and Canadian provinces through central Wisconsin and Michigan. Edges exhibit a number of features which render them extremely favorable for man and beast, a phenomenon known as the "edge effect." Odum (1953 :207) defines this effect by observing that "often, both the number of species and the population density of some of the species are greater in the ecotone than in the communities flanking it." Finally, like the large biotic communities which form them, the edge communities' geographic position shifts with climatic change and may not be considered to be stable in the temporal dimension. The Carolinian Biotic Province Figure 1 shows the location of the Carolinian province in the Upper Great Lakes area. The topography of this province in southern Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin is level to gently rolling, although glacial moraines are common in some places. Soils vary in texture from sand to clay with occasional bog soils in low swampy situations. The soils of this region are grayish- brown and brown podzolic soils, formed under temperate forest conditions. Very dark brown prairie soils or Wiesenboden soils, which are formed under temperate grasslands, also appear sporadically in southwestern Michigan and south central Wisconsin (Kellogg 1941:277). The average growing season varies
8
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
between 140 and 180 frost free days; the mean annual temperature varies from 46 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit; and the annual precipitation varies from 28 to 36 inches per year. Snowfall seldom exceeds 50 inches annually, and during the winter months the ground frequently lacks snow cover. The presettlement forests of the Carolinian biotic province are commonly classified as the oak- hickory type. On dry sites, forest associations were dominated by black, red, and white oak, and by hickories, sugar maple, beech, walnut, butternut, elm, and tulip. On sites which were not well drained, forests were composed of elm, silver maple, ash, swamp white oak, basswood, shagbark hickory, sycamore, cottonwood, red oak, and bur oak. In swampy situtations this assemblage also included cedar and tamarack. On the northern fringe of the Carolinian province elm, red maple, ash, yellow birch, white birch, aspen, and white pine became predominant (Veatch 1959). The vertebrates which occur within the biotic provinces of the northeastern United States are discussed in Appendix G (p. 224) in addition, the prehistoric archaeological distributions of some of these species are shown in Appendix I (p. 247). However, a few species which are typical of the Carolinian biotic province in the Great Lakes region will be mentioned here. The oppossum, raccoon, striped skunk, gray fox, bobcat, gray squirrel, southern flying squirrel, pine vole, cottontail rabbit, whitetail deer, turkey, red-shouldered hawk, barred owl, vulture, bobwhite, red-headed woodpecker, passenger pigeon, woodthrush, and cardinal are all, or probably were typical of areas with climax deciduous forest. This list can be lengthened considerably with the inclusion of a large number of reptiles and amphibians which are similarly restricted. In addition to these endemic species, the Carolinian forest is inhabited by a great number of species whose total ranges include other biotic provinces. These are black bear, longtailed weasel, mink, otter, badger, coyote, wolf, cougar, woodchuck, eastern chipmunk, fox squirrel, beaver, muskrat, elk, and bison. At the period of earliest European contact, the Carolinian biotic province of the Upper Great Lakes was occupied by agricultural peoples who raised corn, beans, squash, and presumably other less important crops, in natural or artificial clearings within the forest. These people also hunted, primarily for deer, fished, trapped, and gathered wild plants when these were abundant. Tribes of this area include the Huron and Neutral in southern Ontario; the Potawatomi, Sauk-Fox, Miami, and perhaps Erie, in southern Michigan; and finally, the Siouan speaking tribes of southern Wisconsin.
INTRODUCTION
9
The Canadian Biotic Province Referring to Figure 1 again, we see that the southern margin of the Canadian biotic province extends across the Bruce Peninsula of lower Ontario into southern Michigan where it transects the state between Saginaw Bay and Little Traverse Bay. In Wisconsin the southern limits extend roughly from the northern tip of Green Bay to the western tip of Lake Superior. On the north this province bounds the Hudsonian province on a line which touches the northern tip of Lake Superior and passes 50 miles north of Lake Nipissing. Most of this region has the uneven topography of a heavily glaciated country, gravelly hills (moraines) and ridges, sandy outwash plains, swamps, and rock outcrops. Most of the soils of this region are products of cool, moist forests, and are light colored, acid, rather infertile, and low in organic matter. They vary greatly because of the diverse nature of the parent materials that the glaciers moved and mixed. Stones, sands, and gravels are common. In addition to the organic soils which occupy millions of acres, there are also smooth uplands, rocky ridges, outwash plains, and former lake beds covered with deep silty or clayey soils (Muckenhirm and Berger 1957:547). The climate of the Canadian province is cool, the average annual temperatures varying from 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The average annual per year growing season has between 80 and 140 frost-free growing days. Winter snowfall varies from 4 to 10 feet per year, and the ground may be covered with snow from 100 to 140 days of the year. Potzger (1946:213-250) has considered the forests of the Canadian biotic province to be an artifact of the modifying effects of the large water masses which they surround; he has accordingly called this floral association the Lake Forest. As Dice (1938:514;1943:15) points out, the climatic climax of most of the forests of this province is a hardwood forest, but subclimaxes of several sorts play a predominant role in the composition of the total floral community. The dominant species of the climax Lake Forest is sugar maple while yellow birch, beech, elm, aspen, basswood, hemlock, and white pine are also members of the association. An important subclimax including black spruce, tamarack, cedar, fir, white pine, white birch, and alder occurs on extensive wet and swampy ground. Another subclimax which occurs on poor sandy soil includes Norway, jack, and white pine, and hemlock.
10
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Few, if any, mammals are restricted to the Canadian biotic province. While those Carolinian mammals which do not extend northward into the Canadian province have already been discussed, other mammals which have a northern distribution do not, or formerly did not, cross the Canadian-Carolinian ecotone to the south. Some of these include the northern water shrew, arctic shrew, fisher, marten, wolverine, lynx, northern flying squirrel, northern bog lemming, boreal red-backed vole, porcupine, snowshoe hare, moose, and woodland caribou. Most of the birds of the Canadian biotic province are only summer visitors, but some of the indigenous birds include the spruce grouse, gray jay, raven, and the common loon. Since the shores of the three Upper Great Lakes are generally bounded by the Canadian province, and since inland lakes and streams are so numerous within it, the fish of these lakes should be properly described as resources of the Canadian province. Rostlund (1952:73) gives us a thorough description of these waters. This province is formed by the overlapping of the Mississippian and Canadian faunas [as used here these terms refer to the fish of the waters of the Mississippi River drainage and the waters of Canada), and therefore northern and southern fishes intermingle in the region. Whitefishes, lake herrings, lake trout, and pikeperch constitute the bulk of the resource, which consequently is high in quality, for these species are all prime food fishes. Other important fishes are brook trout, common pike, muskellunge, sauger, yellow perch, and lake sturgeon; burbot and mooneye occur; there are suckers and members of the minnow family but not in so large numbers of species as the Mississippian province . . . a number of Mississippian forms range northward into the Great Lakes province: catfishes, bowfin, gar pikes, white bass, black basses, crappies, sunfish and sheepshead.
Discussing the Upper Great Lakes as a fishing area, Hostlund says that, In the smaller waters tributary to the main lakes or in narrow passages, such as the Straits of Mackinac and at Sault Ste. Marie, the fishes are seasonally highly available, but in the province as a whole the availability of the fish resource is low because of the prevalence of very large and deep water bodies. It is a region of lake fishery rather than river fishery, and aboriginal fishing in the main lakes may even be called an inland shore fishery. The best fishing season is clearly in summer, but winter fishing can be practiced under the ice.
INTRODUCTION
11
At the time of first European contact, the Canadian province was inhabited by Algonquian speaking peoples. To the north and east of Lake Huron were many Algonquin bands (Tooker 1964:19) and the Ottawa. Most of northern Michigan and Canada north of Lake Superior was occupied by the Chippewa, while the Menomini inhabited the Canadian province in northern Wisconsin. These people were hunter-gatherers and fishermen who hunted in small family groups during the winter and lived in lake shore villages during the summer fishing season. The Hudsonian Biotic Province The Hudsonian biotic province is essentially transcontinental since it stretches from Newfoundland to Alaska, comprising the boreal forest zone which, in the east, lies between the Canadian province and the arctic tundra. Practically all of this region has been glaciated and, as consequence, the land is relatively flat with many lakes and bogs filling low areas. Soils are thin and are lacking entirely in many places, bare granite or other similar crystalline rock is common. The climate of the Hudsonian province is characterized by long, severely cold winters, and by short, relatively warm summers. Snowfall is extremely heavy in winter and killing frosts may occur in any month of the year. The most characteristic tree of this province is the black spruce which occurs in huge unbroken tracts. White spruce, paper birch, tamarack, balsam, poplar, fir, jack pine, willows, and alder also occur where situations are favorable to these species. Thick mats of sphagnum moss occur on the floor of the black spruce forests and in wetter places other bog plants, such as Labrador tea, and blueberries are also common. Larger mammals of the eastern Hudsonian province include the fisher, marten, short-tailed weasel, wolverine, red fox, lynx, black bear, red squirrel, beaver, muskrat, porcupine, snowshoe hare, moose, and both barren ground and woodland caribou. (Moose were the principal game in this area, but this species was replaced by the caribou to the north and west.) fudians of the Hudsonian province at the time of historic contact included the Naskapi, Montagnais, Cree, Ojibwa, and numerous Athabaskan speaking bands in western Canada. All of these people were hunters. The Illinoian Biotic Province The Illinoian province borders the Canadian provmce on both the west and the southwest where it extends through central
12
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, and into central Illinois and northwestern Indiana. Studies of prairie remnants in Wisconsin by Whitford (1958) and in Michigan by Veatch (1928), as well as a study of the discontinuous distribution of prairie vertebrates by Smith (1957:205-218), indicate that the Illinoian biotic province once extended farther north and east into the Upper Great Lakes area. The topography of this province is flat to very gently rolling, though steep bluffs border river valleys. Soils have developed under grasslands and are dark in color and high in organic material. Average annual precipitation in this province is from 23 to 40 inches per year although those regions which border the Great Lakes receive between 30 and 35 inches per year. The frost-free growing period is between 140 and 180 days per year (Kincer 1941). The vegetation of the Illinoian province is typically tall grass prairie, but scattered patches of oak-hickory forest are not uncommon, depending upon local conditions of soil and moisture. On flood plains deciduous species include elm, sycamore, bur oak, eastern cottonwood, hackberry, red bud, and buckeye. Maples, basswood, and beech are common in the eastern part of the province (Shelford 1913). Oak-hickory forests become increasingly frequent on the eastern edge of the Illinoian prairie area forming a parklike savannah. This area, which forms a wedge-shaped zone extending eastward into central Indiana and western Ohio, has been called the prairie peninsula. Sauer (1950), Stewart (1956), and many others have argued that oak-hickory forests are the climax vegetation of these fringe areas but that prairie intrusions have resulted from repeated firing of the expansive grasslands to the west. Mammals which are usually associated with the grasslands of the Illinoian province include the badger, spotted skunk, coyote, Franklin ground squirrel, thirteen-lined ground squirrel, fox squirrel, plains pocket gopher, prairie vole, jack rabbit, elk, and bison. A few other vertebrates typical of the prairies include the prairie chicken, Swains on's hawk, sandhill crane, and ornate box turtle. In the aboriginal period, the Illinoian biotic province was occupied by village farmers such as the Miami, Illinois, Kickapoo, Iowa, and Santee Dakota.
II
PALEOECOLOGY
In order to relate a culture to its natural environment it is necessary to refer to the specific resources available in its particular setting and to the relevant physical features such as terrain, precipitation, and temperature. Cultural responses are made to the natural environment in reference to these resources and conditions. Paleoecological reconstruction is not a simple matter. No technique has evolved which will provide data on the relationship between physical and biotic elements, or between the biotic elements of a community at a particular point in time or space. These relationships must be presumed on the basis of modern associations and held as a constant in paleoecological reconstruction. When this assumption is made, and it may not always be valid, several techniques can be employed to determine the constituent parts of a natural community. The relationship between these parts, the prehistoric ecology, can then be reconstructed using associations implied from modern species. Paleoclimatology, geochronology, paleontology, paleobotany, and palynology may all be used to help reconstruct a particular prehistoric community. Archaeologists are, of course, interested in man's role in the natural environment but this is seldom a major factor in paleoecological reconstruction. Although paleoecologists may use plant and animal remains from archaeological sites, these remains are not interpreted as artifacts of a cultural process, but rather as elements of a former natural environment. These remains are, of course, the result of cultural selection. Since change in the interaction between physical and biotic factors in any particular area is an interdependent relationship and one which gradually changes through time, the study of such an interaction is most clearly demonstrated when either time or space is held as a constant. Consequently, this study is oriented to a particular point in space, the Upper Great Lakes region, and it will consider changes in the physical and biotic 13
14
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
factors of the natural environment through time within this area. The designation of temporal periods within the 14,000 year history of the post-Pleistocene Upper Great Lakes is difficult. Rather than being definitive, changes are often gradual making it necessary to delimit several periods which most accurately portray them. The criteria for the selection of these temporal categories are based upon: (1) stable periods of greatest ecological contrast, and (2) periods which most closely correspond to the recognized periods of cultural stability in which we are ultimately interested. It is a major premise of this study that the first factor stands in a causal relationship to the second. The Boreal Woodland Period: 12,000 B.C. - 9,000 B.C. At about 12,00 B.C., the retreat of the Cary substage of the Wisconsin glaciation opened up the southern part of the Great Lakes region to plant and animal colonization. During this early period, ice still covered northern Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and most of Ontario. After a short retreat of the ice, called the Cary-Port Huron interval (which dated a little before 11,000 B.C.), the ice again advanced until it occupied most of the land which was formerly covered by Cary ice. This advance is known as the Port Huron substage and its maximum southward extension is thought to be somewhat later than 11,000 B.C. By 10,500 B.C., the glacial ice had again retreated to a position just north of the Straits of Mackinac. This relatively short retreat marks a mild climatic phase called the Two Creeks interval which has been dated at ca. 9,850 B.C. (Broecker and Farrand 1963:795-802). Shortly before 10,000 B.C., the ice of the Valders substage advanced across the Straits of Mackinac and covered the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, northeastern Wisconsin, much of the Lake Michigan basin, and the western tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan (Hough 1963:97). The biota of the Upper Great Lakes region during this three thousand year period reflects the cold climate produced by glacial activity. Terasmae (1961:666) estimates that the mean annual temperature for southeastern Canada during the period from 11,000 B.C. to 9,000 B.C. was between 8 and 15 degrees below present average temperatures. Climatic moderation which led to the gradual retreat of the continental glaciers shortly before 9,000 B.C. also produced a dramatic change in the biota, so that this date should mark the beginning of a new paleoecological period.
PALEOECOLOGY
15
Palynological studies of the fossil pollen in the peat bogs of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario, unanimously indicate that the earliest stable floral community in these regions was dominated by spruce (Potzger 1946:211-250; Winter 1962:526-528; Oltz and Kapp 1963:339-346; Anderson 1954:140-155; Benninghoff and Hibbard 1961: 155-159; Stoutamire and Benninghoff 1964:47-59; Semken, Miller and Stevens 1964:823-835). Other consistent but less frequent members of this plant community included fir, pine, larch, and birch. Spruce pollen usually comprised between 80 and 90 percent of the arboreal pollen. Deciduous pollen usually appeared in trace amounts. Non-arboreal pollen, which was abundant on early sites, became relatively scarce by 9,000 B.C. Pollen of this type represents grasses, sedges and such hydrophytic species as cattail, willow, alder, sphagnum, other mosses, and ground pine. Mammal remains are also quite common in the bogs of this region. However, many of these species are now extinct or at least are no longer members of the modern faunal assemblage. Some of these species include the woodland musk-ox (Symbos cavijrons), Jefferson mammoth (Mammuthus jeffersoni), American mastodon (Mammut americanus), the giant moose (Cervalces), giant beaver (Castoroides), ·barren ground caribou, peccary, and woodland caribou. In addition, the remains of many modern species such as elk, deer, moose, beaver, bear, and wolf are also encountered in bog deposits. Handley (1953: 252) has also reported the occurrence of a number of sea mammals from Arkona and Whittlesey Beach gravels. These beaches should date at about 11,000 B.C. This fauna includes the walrus (Odobenus), fin whale (Balaenoptera), sperm whale (Physeter), and bowhead whale (Balaena). If these sea mammals are correctly associated with Arkona and Whittlesey beaches, then they must have entered the Great Lakes by way of the Hudson River Valley during late recessional stages of the Cary glaciation. We know very little about the habitats of most of these mammal species, yet, what little we do know indicates that many of these mammals had different habitat preferences. Skeels (1962:118) tells us that mammoths were grazers and "confined themselves to open grasslands and seldom entered deeply forested areas." Hibbard (1951) reports that mastodons were a forest animal, browsing on forest vegetation along bogs and streams. We can infer from the modern habitats of the barren ground caribou that this species preferred open or semi-open situations and that moose, giant moose, and beaver probably preferred
16
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
forested regions. Although we know little of the habitat of the woodland musk-ox it probably preferred closed conifer forests. In addition, we know that bog formations contain animals which have been radiocarbon dated (Table 1) from 11,250 B.C. to 3,600 B.C., a span of about 8,000 years. In spite of this temporal span and the differences in habitat preference, writers have referred to bog species as one faunal assemblage simply because they are found in bogs. This is analogous to lumping all excavated archaeological material because it was found in the soil. In fact, the pollen from these same bogs shows a number of successional stages leading to the development of the present climax vegetation of this area. Jelgersma (1962:528) notes that pollen profiles of the Great Lakes region do not show a wide tundra zone or pre-boreal phase as they do in Europe. Yet, Jelgersma 's Zone I at the Madelia Marsh in southcentral Minnesota does contain large amounts of non-arboreal pollen, including pollen from such arctic-alpine plants as Elaeagnus commutata, Shepherdia canadensis, Juniperus, Thalictrum, Saxijraga sp., and Saxifraga oppositijolia. These species indicate a short period of open tundra-like conditions preceding the spruce maximum. Jelgersma characterizes this tundra as small and narrow. Stoutamire and Benninghoff (1964) examined the pollen from the skull of a mastodon excavated from a bog near Pontiac, Michigan. The skull of this beast, which has been dated at 9,950±350 B.C., contained sediments which gave a pollen count of 82 percent spruce, and, in addition, showed a high incidence of non-arboreal pollen. Stoutamire and Benninghoff (ibid:59) reconstruct the landscape at the time of the deposit as "mantled by stands of spruce, some closed, some parklike, with intervening stands of larch, meadows, marshes and lakes." They also note that the appearance of greater frequencies of pine pollen associated with a mastodon from Gratiot County, Michigan, some 90 miles northwest of the Pontiac site, dates the end of the pre-Pine period (Oltz and Kapp 1963). The Gratiot mastodon was dated at 8,750±400 B.C. (M-1254) and is thus 1,200 years younger than the Pontiac mastodon. A date of 9,000 B.C. seems to be more accurate for the close of this pre-Pine period in more southern areas of Michigan. Semken, Miller, and Stevens (1964) examined the pollen from two woodland musk-ox skulls. The White Pigeon musk-ox is undated but yielded a pollen count of 57 percent spruce pollen and an arboreal pollen count of 78 percent. The Scotts musk-
PALEOECOLOGY
17
ox which has been dated at 9,150 B.C. yielded a pollen count of 55 percent pine pollen and 80 percent arboreal pollen. Presumably, the White Pigeon specimen is therefore earlier. These samples demonstrate that the woodland musk-ox Symbos occupied both the pine and earlier spruce-fir forests of southwestern Michigan. Fossil pollen associated with the vertebrae of woodland musk-ox from Kalamazoo County does not show a high percentage of nonarboreal pollen, even though it has been dated at 11,050 B.C. (M-639, Benninghoff and Hibbard 1961). This musk-ox also presumably lived in an extensive conifer forest, though Benninghoff and Hibbard (ibid:158) admit the possibility of local openings in the forest which occurred on gravelly and sandy flood plains. The inconsistency of this sample with the one discussed by Stoutamire and Benninghoff, which dates 1,000 years later, may be explained by the difficulty of interpreting the pollen record. Not only was the vegetation, as a whole, undergoing rapid evolution, but each bog was itself influenced by various degrees of open water, the depth of the water, and the type of local habitat which surrounded it. A small sink hole bog surrounded by moraines would be expected to show a different pollen profile than an extensive lowland swamp even though the overall floral succession was much the same. Although we have some knowledge of the effect of climate on the vegetation of several widely separated localities, we do not know much about its effect on the vegetation of the whole Upper Great Lakes area. In all probability, the difference in vegetation on a given north-south line was probably as significant at 12,000 B.C. as it is today. Guilday, Martin and McCrady (1964), in their classic study of the fauna of the New Paris Number 4 sinkhole in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, hypothesized open boreal woodland as the vegetation type in that area before 9,350 B.C. Fauna from the 8.5 meter level includes Microtus xanthogrw,thus, M. pennsylvanicus, M. chrotorrhinus, Syrw,ptomys borealis, So rex palustris, and Bufo americanus cf. copei. These species can not be supported by either closed canopy forest or treeless tundra, but rather require subarctic open boreal woodlands. The succeeding faunal assemblage is typical of a closed boreal forest zone. Considering the evidence from pollen profiles and the habitat preferences of the animals recovered from the bogs of the Great Lakes area, the following floral sequence is offered for the central part of the Great Lakes region between 12,000 B.C. and 9,000 B.C.: 1) 12,00 B.C. -11,500 B.C., a brief period in which recently de glaciated areas were covered with sedges, grasses, and tundralike vegetation.
18
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
2) 11,500 B.C.-10,000 B.C., rapid colonization of low swampy areas with white spruce, black spruce, willow, alder, birch, and larch. The upland areas were still dominated by non-arboreal species but included occasional stands of conifers. Conifer colonization of the uplands was speeded by the moderate climate of the Two Creek interval 3) 10,000 B.C.-9,000 B.C., a period of rapid colonization of well-drained uplands by black spruce, fir, jack pine, white pine, and a few deciduous species such as maple. This phase was probably accomplished by the Valders maximum. The resulting forest had its closest analogy in the present boreal forest of the Canadian subarctic. This sequence, of course, did not proceed at the same rate over the entire area. For example, phase 2 vegetation would have been well established in the south while more northern areas still would have had phase 1 vegetation. Similarly, by 9,000 B.C., the forest in the north was probably phase 3 type while that farther south was taking on characteristic elements of the next period. The first colonization by animal species probably began soon after the retreat of glacial ice, and was characterized by the influx of open country grazing species such as mammoth, and barren ground carbou. These species occupied the higher, more open parkland areas, avoiding the closed spruce-fir forests which existed in moist situations. This fact may, in part, account for the relative scarcity of the remains of these species in bog deposits. The early placement and paucity of woodland musk-ox remains is not explained by this theory. Another, and equally plausible theory, is that the period of favorable habitat fo;r these species was early and of short duration. Referring to Table 1 (p. 19) we see that radiocarbon dates tend to verify this assertion, since most of the mammoth and musk-ox remains have been assigned rather early dates, while mastodons, as a group, seem to date from later periods. By 10,000 B.C., conifer forests were making inroads into better drained uplands so that most of the southern Upper Great Lakes area was covered with open boreal forests. The development of these conifer forests provided a habitat increasingly unfavorable to the pioneer grazing species, but favorable to browsers and other species which preferred forest habitat. By at least 9,000 B.C., mastodon, moose, and woodland caribou had probably largely replaced the mammoth, woodland musk-ox, and barren ground caribou in the southern Upper Great Lakes region. The date of 6,310±300 B.C. (M-1400) for a Jefferson mammoth
10,050±200 B.C.
9,950±350 B.C.
9,750±400 B.C.
9,150±400 B.C.
8,750±400 B.C.
8,704±188 B.C.
7 ,618±200 B.C.
7 ,370±400 B.C.
6,310±300 B.C.
5,870±225 B.C. 5 ,120±120 B.C.
4,300±250 B.C.
4,150±100 B.C.
4,000±150 B.C.
3,920±100 B.C.
3,600±70
A.D. 1220±65
American mastodon
Jefferson mammoth (Flint)
Woodland musk-ox (Scotts)
American mastodon (Smith)
American mastodon
American mastodon*
American mastodon
Jefferson mammoth (Prillwitz)
American mastodon*
American mastodon (Ferguson)
American mastodon
American mastodon (Russell)
Woodland caribou
Gray fox
Prairie vole
*Same individual.
10,250±350 B.C.
American mastodon (Perry)
B.C.
11 ,250±300 B.C.
Woodland musk-ox (Coville)
Date
Jefferson mammoth
Species
Leelanaw County, Michigan
Scarborough, Ontario
Flint, Michigan
Lapeer County, Michigan
Washtenaw County, Michigan
Tupperville, Ontario
Lenawee County, Michigan
Berrien County, Michigan
Elkhart, Indiana
Lenawee County, Michigan
Novelty, Ohio
Gratiot County, Michigan
Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Oakland County, Michigan
Tupperville, Ontario
Jackson County, Michigan
Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Location
Crane (1956:664)
McCallum and Wittenberg (1962:74)
Crane (1956:664)
Crane and Griffin (1959:173)
Crane (1956:664)
McCallum and Dyck (1960:73)
Crane and Griffin (1958:2)
Crane and Griffin (1965:123)
Crane and Griffin (1961:106)
Crane (1956:644)
Ogden and Hay (1965:168)
Crane and Griffin (1965:123)
Semken et al. (1964:825)
Crane and Griffin (1964:2)
Stoutamire and Benninghoff (1964:51)
McCallum and Wittenberg (1965:233)
Crane and Griffin (1958:2)
Crane and Griffin (1959:173)
Reference
RADIOCARBON DATES OF ANIMAL REMAINS OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES
TABLE 1
M-208
S-115A
M-294
M-347
M-67
S-16
M-280 M-281
M-1400
M-694
M-282
PWU-126
M-1254
M-1042
M-1042
Texas bionuclear lab 8013260000
S-172
M-507
M-639
Number
~ t-< 0
1-' '.D
Q
s
0
0
1: '1::1
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
102
environment which must have in part determined the nature and magnitude of faunal change, it was necessary to qualify the habitat preferences of the species involved. A scoring system was devised that weighs habitat preference according to type of habitat(s) in which a species is most frequently encountered. If a species is found exclusively in one habitat, that habitat was scored two points. If, however, a species occupies habitats other than the preferred one, these were scored one point. Thus, a score was obtained for the habitat types occupied by the faunal assemblage of each level. Only those species with a definable habitat preference were scored. Since an animal such as the wolf occupies all of these types, scoring this species would simply increase the score of each habitat by a constant amount. The scoring of the habitat preferences of each rated species is shown in Table 8.
TABLE 8 SCORING OFiTHE HABITAT PREFERENCES OF THE SPECIES AT THE RADDATZ ROCKSHELTER, SAUK COUNTY, WISCONSIN Habitat Types Species Deer Cottontail Passenger pigeon Screech owl Ruffed grouse Turkey Elk Gray squirrel Woodchuck Raccoon Flying squirrel Chipmunk Sharp-tailed grouse Barred owl Beaver Vulture Woodpecker Flicker Red-tail hawk Red squirrel Red fox
Deciduous Forest
Conifer Forest
1
GrassDeciduous Forest Edge lands Aquatic 2 2
2
1 2 2 2 2 2 1
2 2 1 1
1
1 1
2
1
2 1
2 2 2 2 1 1
2 2
1
2
1 1
1
1
103
APPENDIX A
Figure 2 is a diagram of the changes in the percentage of the habitat preferences of the assemblages of each level of the Raddatz Rockshelter. The results of this analysis are very interesting, and, although differences between levels are probably not statistically significant, they do show interesting climatic trends. These changes in habitat correspond very well to the climatic changes which are thought to characterize these periods (Griffin 1961a; 196lb; 1965).
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104
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
First of all, the faunal assemblage is dominated from the lowest to the highest levels by species which occupy deciduous forest and deciduous forest edge. Other habitat types make only small inroads into these habitats, but even these changes are useful in tracing ecological and climatic fluctuations. The conifer forest and aquatic habitats are most strongly represented in the lowest levels of the site. Thus, a cooler and wetter climate is indicated at that time. The lack of grassland species reinforces this interpretation. This trend reaches a climax in level 13 and from this point in time, both conifer forest and aquatic habitats generally decrease at the expense of deciduous forest and deciduous forest-edge. Wittry dates the levels below level 13 at more than 9000 years before Christ, and his supposition is supported by the radiocarbon date of 9650 B.C. for level 15. The animal species in these levels are not indicative of the conifer forest which must have grown in this part of Wisconsin at 9000 B.C. It is, therefore, suggested that level 14 and 13 probably date from a later time, perhaps 5000-6000 B.C. The forest of southern Wisconsin at this late time must have been of mixed deciduous-coniferous compostion and much like the one represented by the provinces shown in the habitat reconstruction of Figure 1. Levels 12 through 8 show a prolonged climb in the deciduous forest type and a decline in conifer forest habitat. This change is marked by several fluctuations. Level 11, for instance, shows a decline in deciduous forest habitat accompanied by a sharp decrease in the aquatic habitat, a rise in edge habitat and the sudden appearance of grasslands. These changes are thought to mark the onset of the warm-dry climate of the Altithermal period. Wittry (personal communication) estimates the date of level 12 at 4500 B.C.; the evidence presented here would tend to substantiate this estimation. The further decrease in aquatic species, an increase in grassland species, as well as the continual advance of deciduous forest habitat at the expense of conifer habitat seems to reach a maximum at level 8. Wittry dates this level at 2300 B.C. an estimation which is, in part, based on the radiocarbon date of 3241 B.C. for level 10. This estimation for level 8 would place its occupation at the height of the Altithermal period, and the faunal habitat analysis supports this hypothesis. Habitat interpretation of levels 8 to 6, which represent the period from about 2500 B.C. to 1000 B.C., is somewhat confusing. Clearly, there is a slow decrease in deciduous and grassland habitats and a corresponding increase in aquatic and conifer forest habitats indicating a return to cooler and moister climatic conditions. The increase in edge habitat also indicates that forests
APPENDIX A
105
were more open. At 1500 B.C., in level 5, there was a sudden decrease in deciduous forest which is accompanied by a slight decrease in conifer forest and a slight increase in edge, grassland, and aquatic habitat. No reasonable climatic explanation can be produced to explain this change nor for the continued increase in both grassland and aquatic habitat in level 4. In this level, however, we see a striking increase in deciduous forest and an equally notable drop in both edge and conifer forest habitats. Perhaps these changes reflect a warm but wet climatic phase for the period of about 1000 B.C. After this time, there is a strong decrease in deciduous forest habitat, an increase in the conifer and edge habitat and a decrease in both the grassland and aquatic habitat. This is strong evidence for a cool-dry phase in the period shortly after 1000 B.C. Subsequently, there is a gradual increase in deciduous forest and deciduous forest edge habitats at the expense of the conifer habitat, changes which signal a climatic recovery some time following the cool-dry phase of level 3. In most respects, the environmental sequence reconstructed from the habitat preferences of the faunal assemblages of each level seems to corr,espond with those generally recognized in the Eastern United States. The cool period represented by the decrease of deciduous forest habitat in levels 5 and 6 probably corresponds to that which Griffin (1961a:714) postulated for the period of 1800 to 1300 B.C. Similarly, the increase in deciduous forest and decrease in conifer forest represented in level 5 probably corresponds to Griffin's 1300-800 B.C. warm stage. This analysis also tends to substantiate another cool then warm phase, perhaps relating to those Griffin hypothesized for the periods between 800 and 300 B.C. and between 300 B.C. and A.D. 300 respectively. Since the last two levels of the Raddatz Rockshelter are disturbed, we cannot be sure of the dates of these levels nor to which climatic phases they belong. Aside from consideration of the paleoecology of the Raddatz Rockshelter, we must also investigate the animal species as food sources. In order to do this, it is necessary to speak of these remains in terms of the meat represented by the animal remains. Table 9 is a tabulation of the percentage of meat represented by the important food animals in the three major cultural horizons at the site. It is immediately apparent th~t deer were far and away the most important source of food in all levels. The only other species of consequence is the elk which became important in both the early and late levels of the site. These two species as a class - large herbivores - comprise between 94. 9 and 97. 7 percent of the meat in all cultural horizons. These species and
Total
10,289.8
100.0
21,753.3
100.0
4,456.3
0.6
100.0
0.2
1.1
46,9
10
0,6
130
0.3
126.7
0.2
23.8
28
98.7
0.5 4,399.4
22.4
0.7
98.8
0.4
31.5
0.4
0.6
15.7
80.8
Percent
21,496.6
79.1
1.6
17.5
28
700
3,600
Pounds of Meat
Early Archaic Level 12
99.5
Turtles
10,238
4.7
Birds
Total Mammals
other Mammals 0.05
346.5
31.5
1.0
0.3
Beaver
0.6
225
0.9
100
Wolf
140
0.3
35
0.3
56
Raccoon
1.6
350
0.2
37.4
93.3
Percent
20,300
Pounds of Meat
16.8
3,850
Elk
60.3
Percent
Middle Archaic Levels 5-12
Woodchuck
6,200
Pounds of Meat
Deer
Species
Late Archaic Levels 3 & 4
1.1
409.5
36,499.4
100.00
0.5 0.5
168
99.0 197.4
36,134
0.3
0.9
106.2
0.5 325
0.3
13.4
82.5
Percent of Total
192.5
100.8
4,900
30,100
Total pounds of Meat
AMOUNT OF MEAT REPRESENTED BY THE ANIMAL REMAINS OF RADDATZ ROCKSHELTER SAUK COUNTY, WISCONSIN
TABLE 9
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APPENDIX A
107
other mammals represent more than 98.7 percent of all meat. Meat derived from birds and turtles is insignificant while no fish bones are represented in the deposit. The fact that a wide variety of smaller animal species is represented serves to point out the fact that these Archaic hunters had a diffuse economy. Unlike hunters of the Woodland period, who also preferred deer, these people did not hunt deer to the virtual exclusion of other species. There are some very interesting gaps in the faunal assemblage of Raddatz which may be due to either the lack of these species in the neighborhood of the site or to the fact that they were not selected as food animals. These species include the fox squirrel, gray fox, black bear, mink, badger, striped skunk, and otter. At least the mink and black bear were taken by Late Archaic people living at the Durst Rockshelter located only a mile from the Raddatz site (Parmalee 1960b). The most mystifying is the absence of the black bear. Perhaps this can be explained by the presence of a taboo against the killing of bears, or perhaps bears may not have been available if the site was occupied during the win:ter hibernation period. One interesting faunal record from this site is the occurrence of the box turtle. Neither the eastern species, Terrapene carolina, nor the western species, Terrapene ornata, presently occur in Wisconsin (Conant 1958). The western species has been occasionally reported from some counties in southern Wisconsin and does occur in northern Illinois. This species prefers a dry grassland habitat and is probably the one represented at Raddatz. The appearance of box turtles in the Raddatz strata appears to correspond with the appearance of the prairie habitat, i.e., level 11, and again between levels 7 and 2. Unfortuantely, this species could not be included in the habitat reconstruction since it is not known whether T. ornata or T. carolina was represented. Parmalee believes, on the basis of his analysis, that the Raddatz shelter was occupied most frequently during the winter. This suppostion is based upon the absence of deer antler as well as the presence of male deer skulls from which antlers had been dropped. In addition, Parmalee points to the paucity of the water fowl remains in support of his theory. Despite the fact that every level of the Raddatz shelter contains some species which would be available only during the warm months of the year, Parmalee is probably correct in his assumption. If the shelter had been occupied most frequently in the summer, we would certainly expect many more migratory birds and deer antler. In addition, many of the species which are indicative of a summer occupation such as passerine birds, turtles, chipmunks and woodchucks could
108
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
have entered the shelter of 'their own accord. Probably, the Raddatz Rockshelter served mainly as a winter habitation or hunting site but was visited periodically in the summer months. In summary, the stratigraphic analysis of the faunal remains of the Raddatz Rockshelter has produced new evidence on both the paleoecology and ethnozoology sequence at this important site. An analysis of the habitat preferences of the faunal assemblage of each level, shows a remarkable correspondence with those hypothesized for the Upper Great Lakes area produced by pollen analysis. The earliest levels of the shelter show the presence of a relatively cool-moist climatic phase which is believed to date near the end of the Pine period. A gradual decrease in conifer and aquatic habitat and an increase in deciduous forest, forest edge and grasslands, characterizes the intermediate levels of the site. These changes are believed to reflect the increasing warmth and dryness of the Altithermal climatic phase. A decrease in grasslands and deciduous forest and an increase in both aquatic and conifer forest at the end of this period indicates a return to a climate reminiscent of the modern period. This stage is followed by habitat changes indicating a warm-moist period at about 1000 B.C., a subsequent cooling and finally a return to a warmdry climate. The subsistence economy of the Raddatz site is undeniably based upon the exploitation of deer and elk. All other food species occur much less frequently, although the consistency with which these species appear is indicative of a diffuse subsistence pattern. In short, small mammals, birds and turtles, were not the major food source and, although these Archaic hunters preferred to kill deer or elk, they did not ignore other food sources. Neither can it be said that these small species were not important since they probably acted as vital dietary supplements when larger game was not available. Faunal evidence indicates that the site was principally occupied as a winter shelter but that it was also visited periodically during the warmer months of the year.
APPENDIX B THE ANIMAL REMAINS FROM THE FEEHELEY, HART AND SCHMIDT SITES, SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN
The Feeheley Site The Feeheley site (20-SA-128) is located on a sand ridge in the southeast quarter of Section 1, Range 4E, Township 11N in Saginaw County, Michigan. The site is at an elevation of 608 feet above sea level. This sand ridge is a remnant of a sand spit or dune, most likely formed shortly after the maximum rise of the Lake Nipissing stage of the development of the Great Lakes. The rise of Nipissing waters to a height of about 605 feet has been dated from two localities in the immediate area of the Feeheley site. A white cedar log recovered at an elevation of 572 feet from a Nipissing marl deposit a short distance west of the site was probably drowned by the rising waters of this stage and has been dated at 3330±150 B.C.; M-1138 (Crane and Griffin 1961). A spruce log associated with a pre-Nipissing burial at the Andrews site, located 2 miles northeast of the Feeheley site was dated at 3350 150 B.C.; M-941 (Crane and Griffin 1960). As the lake level of Nipissing fell, wind action must have formed much of the ridge upon which the Feeheley site is located. Since some of the burial pits extend below the level of Nipissing waters (605 feet) the site must have been occupied after the fall of Nipissing to lower levels. This evidence is substantiated by the radiocarbon date for the Feeheley burial complex at 1980±150 B.C., M-1139 (Crane and Griffin 1962). Thus the site was occupied at about 2000 B.C. at a time when the lake level was between the Nipissing maximum of 605 feet and the Algoma stand at 595 feet dating approximately 1200 B.C. This water level (and in fact even a slight rise above the present lake level) would make the Saginaw Valley area one extensive swamp and probably a swamp with a good deal of open water. Botanical remains from the Feeheley site indicate that the site was covered with mixed mesophytic forest with oak, beech, hickory, basswood, maple, pine, ash, elm, butternut, walnut and sycamore all represented (Harnell 1964:28). 109
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
110
Animal bone from the Feeheley site was recovered by two techniques. Most of the sample was collected by fine screening (window screen) fire pits and burial debris. The remaining sample was collected during the trowelling process. The bones collected by screening were usually very small flakes in the 2 mm. to 10 mm. sized class, while the larger fragments (none over 30 mm.) were obtained in trowelling. Approximately 90 percent of the bone was in the smaller size class. All animal bone was calcined and in an extremely poor state of preservation. Poor preservation limited the identification of most of the bone to the class level, that is, it was identified as fish, turtle, bird or mammal, on the basis of the distinct bone structure of each of these classes. The number of bones in each class is given in Table 10. Only five species were identified, the fresh water drum ( Aplodinotus grunniens), the brown bullhead (lctalurus !!_f!_bulosus), the yellow perch (Perea jlavescens), the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), and an intrusive chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Of the total bone recovered 60.7 percent was fish, 22.3 percent was mammal, 9.6 percent was turtle and the remaining 7.4 percent was bird. TABLE 10 NUMBER AND PERCENT OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BONES OF EACH OF THE FOUR CLASSES OF ANIMALS RECOVERED FROM THE FEEHELEY SITE, SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN
Class
Number of Bones
Percent of Total Number of Bones
Fish
540
60.6
Mammal
199
22.3
Turtle
86
9.7
Bird
66
7.4
891
100.0
Total
APPENDIX B
111
The remains of the fresh water drum indicate a size range from individuals less than a half pound to several others that probably were as large as four pounds. The other fish remains were very small and none probably exceeded six inches in length. The bird and mammal bones were also very small and probably came from species of the small to medium rodents and songbird size classes. The only other larger animal was of course the muskrat. No specific occupation levels were apparent from concentrations of animal bone. As a general rule these species were recovered from all areas and all levels of the site. It is important to note, however, that the areal distribution of animal bone corresponds in all details to the concentration of cultural refuse. Several test pits on the western slope of the site produced neither animal bone nor cultural materials. The animal remains of the Feeheley site are interesting in several respects. There are, first of all, very few remains and these remains are all from small species. There is a very limited variety of species represented and fish remains are more numerous than are those of mammals. The fact that there are so few food remains is no doubt in part due to poor preservation. There are, however, other probable reasons. The scarcity of animal bone may simply indicate a relatively short occupation. Or, the variety of plant remains recovered may indicate that subsistence was primarily based on the collection of plant foods. The fact that all the bones recovered were from small species is quite interesting, since if any large game had been killed at least a few fragments of larger bone would surely have been preserved. Such is not the case and we can report with assurance that there is no evidence for the exploitation of big game. The absence of large mammals, particularly deer, could indicate two things: either the site was not occupied for long and no deer were taken during its occupation; or that these people were not hunting deer but were concentrating on the resources of a particular microenvironment. There is support for the latter supposition in the lack of variety of species present and in the fact that fisb remains are more numerous than mammal remains. All the species recovered prefer very similar ecological conditions. The brown bullhead is commonly found in deeper waters of weedy shallows; the drum occurs in the shallow waters of lakes, ponds and streams where it is a bottom dweller and prefers turbid conditions. Yellow perch, of the size recovered, are usually found in shallow water of shore areas. The muskrat requires shallow water with marsh vegetation, and turtles are also usually
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
112
associated with moist or wet habitats. It seems to be apparent, therefore, that the occupants of the Feeheley site were exploiting the resources of a very local area and that these resources were from the shallow water marshes which surrounded the site when it was occupied. It is a moot question as to whether they were living on the site to exploit these resources or whether these resources were exploited because they were readily available in that area. In additon to the animal bone, several species of terrestrial gastropods were recovered from the site and were identified by Barry Miller of the Museum of Paleontology of the University of Michigan Museums. These species were identified as Polygyra albolabris, ten individuals, Zonitoides arborea, one individual, and Helicodiscus parallelus, two individuals. In addition, five shells were identifiable only as Polygyra (Table 11). All these land snails are common in the area today. Fourteen of the eighteen specimens TABLE 11 TERRESTRIAL GASTROPODS FROM THE FEEHELEY SITE Depth in Feet from Surface
Number of Shells
Excavation Unit
Helicodiscus parallelus
1 1
50-275 60-110
2.0 4.6
Zonitoides arborea
1
60-110
4.6
Polygyra albolabris
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
10-305 70-130 70-130 80-80 70-120 65-125 90-140 40-350 60-110
0-1.4 .4-1.0 1.0-2.2 1.6 1.6-2.0 2.5 2.5 3.6-3.8 4.6
Polygyra
1 1 1 1 1
60-150 60-110 70-120 90-110 60-110
0- .7 0-1.1 1.6-2.0 2.5 2.6
Species
APPENDIX B
113
were recovered from the general burial area of the site and although none were associated directly with the burials some were apparently associated with refuse pits. They occur here probably not as food remains but as a result of their propensity for areas containing organic debris. Although all these species exhibit a wide habitat preference, Ruthven (1911:142-148) records these species as occurring together in three of the many habitats he studied--drywood, wood flats and on the borders of lakes and swamps. Only in the last habitat were Polygyrids more abundant than Zonitoides or Helicodiscus and at the Feeheley site the Polygyrids compose 83 percent of the gastropods recovered (Table 11). Thus as with other animal species the gastropods indicate wet marshy conditions at the time of the site's occupation. In summary, the Fee he ley site was a short term, summer occupation and burial site on the shores of an extensive swamp. The people who occupied the site were primarily gatherers who also apparently spent some time fishing for small shallow water species. The small size of the fish remains indicates the use of a tight meshed seine. Birds, turtles and small mammals were also exploited but there is no indication of big game hunting. The Hart Site The Hart site (Wright and Morlan 1964:49-53) is located in James Township of Saginaw County. This "Dustin Lamoka" occupation took place on a sand beach which has a geological history similar to that described for the Feeheley site. Although the temporal position of this site has not been precisely determined, it is probably somewhat later in the post-Nipissing, pre-Algoma sequence than the Feeheley site. Perhaps a guess date of 1500 B.C. would be fairly accurate. The food remains from the Hart site are not unlike those of Feeheley and in fact Wright and Morlan have called it a summer fishing camp. Identified species include only drumfish (Aplodinotus grunniens) but the identification of bone fragments to class indicates a high frequency of fish bone (Table 12). As at the Feeheley site, no bone was derived from mammals larger than a muskrat. The subsistence activities of these two sites seem to be identical. The Schmidt Site The Schmidt site, located in Section 19 of Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, yielded a cultural assemblage like that of the Hart site but differs from both the Feeheley and Hart sites in the subsistence activity.
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY TABLE 12
114
COMPARISON OF THE FREQUENCY OF CLASSES OF ANIMAL BONE AT THE FEEHELEY, HART AND SCHMIDT SITES, SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN Feeheley Number
Percent
Number
199
22.3
22
Bird
66
7.4
Turtles
86 540 891
100.0
Mammal
Fish Total
Schmidt
Hart* Percent
Number
Percent
21.2
4,576
79.3
1
0.9
1,003
17.4
9.6
14
13.5
192
3.2
60.7
67
64.4
3.0
.1
104
100.0
5,774.0
100.0
*Corrected for unidentifiable bone after Wright and Morlan (1964:52)
The animal bone sample from the Schmidt site consisted of 5, 77 4 very small calcined bone fragments. Only 271 fragments could be identified to genera or species. All the bone, however, was identified as to class on the basis of bone structure. Seventynine percent of the total sample was mammal bone, 17.4 percent was bird, .1 percent was reptilian and 3.1 percent was fish. Remains of 4 species of mammal, 8 bird, 2 reptile and 11 fish species were identified. Of the mammals, deer were the most important food species. Table 13 shows that this species provided 77.4 percent of the total amount of meat represented by the animal remains of the site. Of the remaining 22.6 percent of the meat, other mammals represent 5. 7 percent, fowl represent 5.5 percent, reptiles 2.4 percent and fish apporximately 9 percent. This evidence indicates that mammals and particularly deer were by far the most important source of animal food. The Schmidt site faunal assemblage is overwhelmingly dominated by animal species which are closely associated with the aquatic habitat. In fact, of the 26 identified species, only the deer and dog are not aquatically oriented. The obvious implication is that the Schmidt site was located near a body of water. It is possible to discover some of the salient features of this body of water by examining the habitat preferences of the fish which occupied it. The most frequent fish remains were those of the bowfin (Amia calva). This fish prefers clear water with an abundance of rooted aquatic vegetation. It avoids habitually turbid water with clayey silt (Trautman 1957). Small members of the catfish family were also common and these are probably the remains of the northern yellow bullhead (Ictalurus
115
APPENDIX B TABLE 13
AMOUNTS OF MEAT IN POUNDS FROM THE DIFFERENT SPECIES FOUND AT THE SCHMIDT SITE, SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN Minimum PerNumber of Pounds of Individuals Usable Meat cent
Species
Number of Bones
Percent
Deer Dog Raccoon Muskrat Canid
60 3 1 8 1
22.1 1.1 0.4 2.9 0.4
12 3 1 6 1
1,020 45 17.5 12.6
77.4 3.4 1.4
73
26.9
23
1,095.1
83.1
25
9.3
16
33.6
2.5
49 20 3 4 2 1 1 1
18.2 7.5 1.1 1.5 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.4
26 10 2 4 2 1 1 1
18.2 10.5 2.8 2.8 2.1 0.7 1.75
106
39.1
63
72.45
5.5
2 1
0.7 0.4
2 1
20 10
1.6
3
1.1
3
30
2.4
Sturgeon Drum Walleye Largemouth bass Bowfin Channel catfish Longnose gar Yellow perch Northern yellow bullhead Catfish Bass
1 9 4 7 25 3 1 3
0.4 3.3 1.5 2.6 9.3 1.1 0.4 1.1
1 7 3 6 8 3 1 3
36 20.7 19.2 14.4 14 9.6 3.2 1.2
2.7 1.6 1.5 1.1 1.0 0.7
1 31 4
0.4 12.6 1.5
1 13 3
0.4
TOTAL FISH
89
32.9
49
lltl.7
271
100.0
138
1,316.25
TOTAL MAMMAL Hooded merganser Blue and/or green wing teal Baldpate Pintail Ruddy duck Wood duck American coot Common mallard Anas spp. TOTAL BIRD Soft shell turtle Snapping turtle TOTAL TURTLE
COMBINED TOTAL
O.!J
1.4 O.l:l
0.8
O.l:l
0.4
9.0 100.0
116
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
natalis). This fish prefers ponds, lakes or streams where the gradient is basic or low, the water is clear and aquatic vegetation is profuse. The next most frequent fish species is the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Unlike the smallmouth bass, the largemouth prefers nonflowing waters with much aquatic vegetation but where the water is clear (Trautman 1957). In fact, all the fish in the Schmidt site assemblage prefer shallow, clear water with an abundance of aquatic plants. Most avoid situations where there is current, silty water or a muddy bottom. The presence of the remains of a large number of migratory water birds at the Schmidt site gives us some evidence for determining the season of bccupation. The teal (Anas carolinensis or discors), the bird most frequently represented, is a summer resident in the Schmidt site locality. The hooded merganser (Lopnodytes cucullatus) is a year-round resident of the area. All other less common bird species are summer residents except the baldpate or American widgeon (Mareca americana). The latter species is a spring and fall visitant to the area. These bird remains indicate that the Schmidt site was occupied during at least the late summer and fall seasons. Thus, the fauna from the Schmidt site indicates that the Archaic peoples who occupied it were camped near a shallow weedy pond or small lake during the warmer months of the year. The economy of these people seems to have had a wide base, to judge from the large number of fish, bird and animal species present. However, the hunting of deer and fowling were the major subsistence activities. Deer were the preferred game species and may have been hunted at some distance from the site. Aquatic species which occurred in close proximity to the site served as a handy supplementary food source. While all three of these Late Archaic sites were located near the shallow post-Nipissing Saginaw embayment and the people of all three sites were exploiting the resources of this embayment, the Schmidt site is divergent both in the variety of species utilized and the high frequency of bird and mammal remains (Table 12, p. 114). It is important to note that Late Archaic people of the Saginaw Valley had developed a subsistence pattern which included both specialized fishing sites and hunting camps. It seems likely that fishing and gathering was a summer activity while deer hunting and fowling provided food during the fall and winter months. The Schmidt site is thought to represent a fall and perhaps early winter camp, while the Feeheley and Hart sites are summer fishing stations.
APPENDIX C ANALYSIS OF THE ANIMAL REMAINS AT THE SCHULTZ SITE, SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN
The Schultz site is located in Saginaw County, Michigan on the north bank of the Tittabawassee River immediately above its junction with the Saginaw River. This large stratified site was occupied intermittently over a period of approximately 2000 years by people with Early, Middle and Late Woodland cultures. Since these occupations took place on natural levees and backswamps formed by the river, the progressive deposition of alluvial soils has expanded the vertical distribution of cultural material in such a way as to permit its recovery in discrete geological and cultural units. Fortunately, the preservation of organic materials has been excellent in these alluvial soils, so that archaeological excavations by the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology in 1962, 1963 and 1964 recovered large quantities of bone and plant refuse. Fitting (n.d.) gives the following brief summary of the archaeology of this important site. To briefly summarize the stratigraphy, we have four major depositional layers. The lowest represents a lacustrine deposit. This is overlain by three major culture bearing horizons, each with two or more subdivisions. The earliest major cultural horizon is an Early Woodland living floor with many sherds of Marion thick pottery and distinctive stemmed projectile points and ovate bifaces. Overlying this is a horizon which contains Havana-like ceramics. This gives way, with ceramic overlap between geologically distinct levels, to a horizon which is predominantly Havanna but contains Hopewell and Baehr-like ceramics. The lithic sequence is quite continuous with side notched points of the larger size giving way to smaller forms through time. Sub-triangular bifaces are popular in the early Havanna levels replacing the ovate bifaces of the Early Woodland level but they tend to disappear through time.
The Late Woodland horizons are also geologically distinct and contain ceramics which resemble those of southeastern Michigan and adjacent Ontario. The Saginaw Valley lies well within the Carolinian-Canadian Transition zone. It presently receives about 28 inches of 117
ns
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
precipitation per year while the average January temperature is between 70 and 71 degrees Fahrenheit. This area is well suited to agriculture since it has slightly more than 160 frost-free growing days each year (Senninger 1964:5-8). The original forest cover (Hudgins 1961:60), was composed of mixed hardwoods on well drained higher ground, cedar, balsam, and tamarack in the low poorly drained areas and open expanses of marsh and wet prairie. The latter formations were probably of particular importance in the low lying areas near the confluences of the Shiawassee, Tittabawassee, Cass, Flint and Bad Rivers south and southeast of the city of Saginaw. Here these rivers enter a low flood plain ten miles in diameter known as the Shiawassee Flats. The elevation of the Shiawassee Flats is 590 feet above sea level or only about five feet above Saginaw Bay. Water from the Saginaw Valley discharges into the bay by way of the Saginaw River. Before modern drainage projects, the Shiawassee Flats area was marsh land and was probably open to human occupation only on natural river levees and on sand ridges produced by the beaches of former high lake levels. Wright (n.d.) concludes that the Schultz site occupations took place on a stabilized natural levee whose elevation is 587 feet. Cultural material was deposited on the crest of the levee and along its back slope. The site was thus located between the TittabawasseeRiver and a low swampy area behind the levee produced by seasonal floodwater which periodically swamped the levee. The remains of forty-nine animal species were recovered from the eight occupation strata at the Schultz site. These include sixteen mammals, eleven hirds, three turtles and twenty species of fish. These species are listed in Table 14. Table 15 is a more detailed stratigraphic record of the provenience of these species showing their order of appearance in the deposit. Because Table 15 records only those species which could be assigned to one of the recognized stratigraphic units, and because it was necessary to omit certain unassignable provenience units, there has been a reduction in both the numbers of species and frequency of species which could be assigned to these units. Mammals The mammals from the Schultz site fall within several habitat types. The largest group includes those closely associated with an aquatic habitat including muskrat, beaver, otter, mink, the bog lemming, meadow vole, and the raccoon. These species all frequent locations with open water or damp conditions, as along stream and river banks. The provenience of the mink, bog lemming and mea-
69
Ondatra zibethicus
Castor canadensis
Procyon lotor
Beaver
Raccoon
Bear
1
Lutra canadensis
Otter
Woodchuck
Fisher
Mink
Deer mouse
Carnivore
Skunk
Total
Peromyscus spp.
Synaptomys cooperi Mephitis mephitis
Martes pennanti
Mustela vison
Marten
Southern bog lemming
Microtus spp.
Martes americana Marmota monox
Meadow vole 1
1
""'
·~
0~
,.. "'
0~
25
0.3 0.1
5 2
0.4
0.5
0,1
0.2
11.1
0.6
1.03
1,78
2,3
2.3
9.5
29.6
40,1
~~]"' 8b § ,_.E-< ~'('!;;;:
569
143
646
120
1,542
0.1
2
3
2
7
3 6 4
4
2
1
171
10
1
84
1
16
3
1
3
27
35
35
146
457
619
i-o
2
4
3
4
3
2
6
10
z.S ""'
,.. "' "'" SP
tl
....
....c_.,
()
tx:
......
ztj
~
:»
Combined Total
Total Fish
Channel catfish Northern pike Drum Walleye Sturgeon Bowfin Northern black or yellow bullhead Lake trout Longnose gar Largemouth bass Smallmouth bass Northern redhorse Silver redhorse Yellow Perch White sucker Longnose sucker
Species
536.7
8.6
2.4 2.96
3.2
lib
1709.2
217.9
5.92 78,4 120 4.0
9.6
lie
245.3
41.1
5.92 11.2 24
lid
4417.1
973.6
1.0 14.4 4.8 2.0 1.6 0.4
68.08 324,5 504 8.0
44.8
Ilia
3378.9
697.1
0.4 0.4
1.6
20.72 207.2 432 6.0
28.8
liTh
TABLE 18--Continued
1262.6
379.7
1.2
0.4
1443.7
381.7
2.4
0.4
0.5
0.5 1.6
29.6 123.2 216
9.6
IVb
2.4 44,4 95.2 216 2.0
16.0
IVa
696.5
83.5
5.92 5.6 72
IVc
100,07
20.27 2,783.2
13,690,0
0.01 0.1 0.06 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.02
0.4 1.3 6.2 11.6 0,1
0.8
Percent
2.0 14.4 8.0 2.0 1.6 1.2 0.4 0.4 1.2 2.4
4.8 183.5 845.3 1,584 20
112.0
Total
c..:>
~
>-:)
......
Meo1
Units
S1raligroptlic
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
To1ol
Percent of
''
lib
/
'' '
3
lie
' ' , ____
Figure
lid
-- --, ' ' '
of
lila
'
I lib
'------- ......
Stratigraphic Units
in
Derived
Mammals
Percent of Meat Fish and
From
' '
the
'
,
IVa
______
Schultz
Various
IVb
/
/
/
/
Site
/
/
/
,. Mammals
IVc
\Fish
/
I
I
z
""
""
1-'
0
~
l:j
I
'i:J M
> 'i:J
I
134
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
minimal importance in Early Woodland times, became an important economic pursuit by the Middle and Late Woodland periods. When we consider the importance of individual species as sources of food (Tables 19 and 20), it is apparent that deer was the most important single game animal. Deer supplied 40 percent of the total meat represented by the Schultz sample, 52 percent in the Early Woodland and 37 percent in both Middle and Late Woodland periods. Other significant mammal food sources include bear, 16.8 percent, elk, 10.2 percent and beaver, 9.4 percent. All bird and reptile species were insignificant, but several fish species were relatively important. Sturgeon represented 11.5 percent of the total meat, and walleye, 6.2 precent of this total. All other fish were insignificant both as individual species and as a group. It is interesting to note that the meat supplied by small mammals decreases rather markedly through time. These species yielded 20.2 percent of the Early Woodland meat, 11.9 percent of Middle Woodland meat and only 4.5 percent of the Late Woodland meat. This decrease is thought to be a function of increased agricultural activities resulting in more and more specialization in the hunting of large game animals on a seasonal basis. Agricultural Indians hunted these species extensively and apparently did not concern themselves too much with small game. Using 3,000 calories per day as a minimum caloric intake for an adult male, Hinsdale (1932:9) calculated that a man would require 2.6 pounds of lean meat or 6. 7 pounds of fish per day. If we consider that the animal remains from the excavated portions of the Schultz site represent 35,046 pounds of meat, then this amount of food would represent 11,829.4 subsistence days. This estmate is extremely conservative since American Indians could probably survive on a lower caloric intake than the 3,000 calories estimated by Hinsdale and since women and children, who do not require as many calories per day, would also be included in a given population. Probably, less than one-tenth of the Schultz site has been excavated so that a rough figure of 118,290 subsistence days is represented by the meat of this site. Assuming a population density of 100 souls, these people could subsist on this amount of meat for 1,182 days. Of course, we know that the size of occupation must have varied greatly from year to year and season to season and that at least Late Woodland and probably Middle Woodland peoples obtained most of their food from plants. In addition, we know that the Schultz site was occupied from tir:re to time over a period of two thousand years. Such uncontrolled
APPENDIX C
135
TABLE 19A PERCENTAGES OF MEAT REPRESENTED BY THE FAUNAL REMAINS OF .THE EARLY WOODLAND HORIZONS AT THE SCHULTZ SITE, SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN rn
Cll
-......_
"d
140
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Ecologically, the Saginaw Valley lies in the Carolinian- Canadian ecotone and by virtue of this fact, seems to have harbored species of both provinces-the edge effect. fu addition, it is an area of diverse habitat types; extensive lowland marshes and wet prairies, pine forests on the numerous sand ridges formed by ancient lakes, extensive upland oak-hickory forests and fine broad alluvial valleys. Each of these habitats offered distinctive resources. All of the resources of all these habitats were available within this one relatively small area. In addition, the Saginaw River and its large tributaries-the Flint, Cass, Shiawassee, and Tittabawassee all converge in the Saginaw Valley. All were filled with fish but especially the walleye and sturgeon which ascended these rivers in great numbers in the spring to spawn. Aside from its fish resources, the wide flood-scoured alluvial valleys of these rivers provided excellent places for primitive agriculture and for gathering wild plant seeds. While the Saginaw Valley is located on the southern margin of the Carolinian-Canadian transition zone, it is nestled within an isothermal pocket where there are 160 frost-free growing days per year. Considering the natural resources of this valley, there is little wonder that aboriginal peoples found it a favorable place to live. There is very little evidence concerning the method by which the people of the Schultz site hunted game. Drives for deer and elk were employed by most hunters of the northern deciduous woodlands and in the historic period this technique was probably used by the people living at the Schultz site. Both the stalking of individual deer, a southern hunting technique, and the trapping of large game, a northern Algonquin hunting practice, may also have been employed. More can be said about the techniques used to catch the fish represented at the Schultz site. We, of course, already know from records such as the Williams Reminiscences that historic Indians speared walleye pike during the spring spawning runs. One harpoon fragment from the Schultz site shows that this technique was also employed in the aboriginal period. There is, however, good evidence to suppose that other fishing techniques were being employed. Unlike the hypothesized harpoon fishery at the Juntunen site, where the fish remains were large individuals of the larger species (Appendix E), very small fish are often represented in some horizons at the Schultz site locality. Not only do we find small fish, but the smaller species are well represented along with the medium and large sized species.
APPENDIX C
141
Small and medium sized species appear most frequently in Middle Woodland horizons, less frequently in Late Woodland context, but not at all in the Early Woodland period, when fishing was not a major subsistence activity, may partially account for the absence of small species. However, ,another more reasonable explanation is forthcoming, namely, change in fishing techniques and the importance of fishing through time. It has been mentioned that the peoples of the Early Woodland component at Schultz were primarily hunters, fishing being of secondary importance and geared to the larger varieties of fish. Probably these were speared or harpooned. With the advent of Middle Woodland influence from the south, fish became a more important subsistence item and a new technique was employed to catch them, either nets or weir traps. The use of this technique is indicated by the fact that the fish remains of this horizon more nearly represent a random sample of both the species and sizes of fish which were in the river. When one employs a seine or builds a fish weir, large as well as small fish are caught; these are non-selective fishing techniques. Rostlund (1952:98) is of the opinion that the historic northern distribution of the use of nets as a fishing device indicated a general southward diffusion of this technique from the Canadian subarctic into the Carolinian woodlands where it never became popular. He also points out the temporal precedence and abundance of net sinkers in the archaeological sites of the middle south and speculates that the use of nets once may have been popular in that area but had been lost by the contact period. The use of harpoons is clearly a boreal forest and arctic fishing technique which was also used in the waters of the Canadian province. Harpoons first appeared in a Late Archaic context in the Saginaw Valley and continued to be used as a major piece of fishing gear in that area well into the historic period. Faunal evidence from the Schultz site indicates that the use of nets was essentially a Middle Woodland characteristic. As such, it may have been a trait of the Middle Woodland riverine adaptation that Struever (1964:87 -106) hypothesizes for the Havana traditions of the lllinois Valley. The pottery and other artifacts of the Middle WQodland component at Schultz shows strong and persistent cultural communications with contemporary cultures in the lllinois Valley. In summary, we are fortunate to be able to make certain deductions about the economy and subsistence techniques of the three cultural horizons represented at the Schultz site. These observations are possible only because of the excellent preservation of
142
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
animal remains and because these remains have been subjected to painstaking quantitative and qualitative analysis. EARLY WOODLAND The Early Woodland component at the Schultz site took place on the crest of a natural levee of the Tittabawassee River and is estimated by Taggart (n.d.) to have covered approximately one half acre. However, a more recent estimate by Fitting (personal communication) is at least ten acres. This occupation has been dated at 500 B.C. (M-1433, 530±120 B.C.; M-1524, 540±130 B.C.; M-1525, 530±150 B.C.). The habitat preferences of the mammalian species of these occupations indicate that the area was surrounded by a mature forest which may have had a strong conifer element. The appearance of several typically northern species indicates that the climate may have been somewhat cooler than present. Hunting of large game was the primary subsistence activity of these people and emphasis was placed upon deer as a meat source. Unlike later occupations of the site, Early Woodland peoples did not disregard smaller animal species and as a group these beasts were a fairly important source of protein. Fishing was not very important and those fish which are represented are rather large, indicating the use of harpoons or spears as a fishing technique. Although the faunal sample from this occupation was relatively small, the absence of waterfowl and turtles may indicate that these were winter occupations. Additional evidence presented by Wright (1964) indicates that at least one Early Woodland occupation took place in the fall season. At this season wild nuts were evidently an important subsistence item. In addition, Wright reports the presence of squash seeds signalling at least incipient use of domesticated plants at this time. Nonetheless, the Early Woodland people of the Schultz site would be most accurately described as hunters and gatherers with a diffuse economy. MIDDLE WOODLAND The Middle Woodland occupations of the Schultz site are believed to date between 200 B.C. and about A.D. 400 (Fitting, personal communication). During this period people were living on both the old natural levee occupied by Early Woodland groups and the former river channel which was opened for habitation by
APPENDIX C
143
a shift in the course of the river. Taggert (n.d.) estimated that the size of this occupation approached ten acres and Fitting suggests about sixteen acres. The appearance of species which prefer open woodland conditions and their persistence in later horizons in addition to the disappearance of species preferring dense forests indicate a change toward a more open forest at this time. It has been suggested that this change may be a local phenomenon associated with either alluvial disturbances on the flood plain or purposeful clearing for agricultural activities. Except for the negative evidence presented by the disappearance of two typically northern species, there is no evidence for hypothesizing a warm climatic phase at this time. Hunting was again concentrated upon large game and particularly deer and elk. Small game became much less important during these and later occupations. It has been suggested that the hunting of big game may have been a seasonal activity. The appearance of quantities of turtle and migratory waterfowl remains in strata rna shows that at least some of the Middle Woodland occupations took place during the summer period, while the great quantity of spring spawning fish in Ilia and Illb point out occupation during that period. Fishing was an important subsistence activity for Middle Woodland people and the presence of small as well as large sized fish produced by this activity indicates the use of nets as a new fishing technique. Net fishing is usually a communal enterprise because of the temporary nature of the abundance of fish and the need to cordinate the harvest, preparation and distribution of the catch. Cooperative subsistence activities often require more social and political control than do individualized or family oriented subsistence efforts. The importance of plant foods cannot be evaluated from the food remains at the Schultz site, but the large size of the Middle Woodland occupations indicates that they did play an important subsistence role. Struever has recently re-emphasized that the closely related Havana tradition sites of the illinois Valley were adapted to a riverine environment and this would be an accurate description of the adaptation of the Middle Woodland cultures of the Schultz site. Speculating on the data presented in this study, we can project the following subsistence and settlement patterns. Middle Woodland people who occupied this site lived in a large and fairly permanent village. During the early spring and summer, they fished in the river and subsisted primarily upon their catch through the early summer. Local hunting, fishing, collecting
144
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
berries, and perhaps planting crops occupied these people during the summer. In late summer and fall, plant foods probably became the main source of food, especially the seeds of wild plants which grew on the flood plain of the river. Nuts and perhaps a few crop plants may have also been important. During the winter, these people probably lived on stored vegetable foods and meat obtained from the winter big game hunts. There is a good possibility that some people left the village during the winter to hunt in other localities. With spring, people returned to the site for the fishing season. LATE WOODLAND The Late Woodland occupation of the site was probably nearly as large as the one of the Middle Woodland period. Age estimations place this occupation at about A.D. 400 to A.D. 900. Mammals which appear with these occupations point to a rather open forest habitat near the site. Big game hunting, particularly deer, elk and bear, supplied most of the meat. The hunting of small game became even less important than during Middle Woodland times, but reliance on larger species undergoes a slight increase at the expense of fishing. Even though fishing seems to be less important, the appearance of some small fish implies continued use of nets or weir traps. We know from historic sources, that the Late Woodland Indians of the Saginaw Valley used spears to take fish and also that they were agricultural people. The increase in the quantity of big game associated with a drop in small game and fishing is probably closely related to an agricultural way of life. Here again, we find the use of fish and products of the hunt to be supplemental to the diet instead of a staple resource. Reconstructing, from both historic reports and the faunal remains from the Schultz site, the yearly subsistence round of Late Woodland peoples in the Saginaw Valley was something as follows. These peoples H.ved in rather large villages on the banks of rivers during the spring and summer season where they fished, hunted and planted their crops. Mter the fall harvest, the village broke up into small family groups and each group went into the interior where they established small winter hunting camps. In these camps people lived on stored plant foods and game animals. In the spring, families returned to the Saginaw Valley in time for the fish runs and the planting of crops.
APPENDIX D FAUNAL REMAINS FROM THE MERO AND HEINS CREEK SITES, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
The Mero Site The Mero site, located in Door CoWlty, Wisconsin, is a multicomponent site which was occupied by Middle and Late Woodland peoples. The fauna sample of 822 bones was recovered from stratified area liT. The lower and intermediate middens of this area are short, late Middle Woodland occupation by people of the North Bay culture, while the upper midden represents occupations by Late Woodland people who were being influenced by Mississippian culture. The North Bay occupation at Mero is very similar to the one at the Porte des Morts site which has been dated at A.D. 173±100. The mammals recovered at the Mero site (Table 21) are essentially those which are foWld in or near Door CoWlty today. These include the deer, beaver, porcupine and less frequently the otter. The only exception is the marten, which no longer occurs in Wisconsin. The northward retraction of the range of the marten is probably the result of the disappearance of mature timber in all parts of the state as well as extensive modern trapping. The presence of the marten and porcupine indicates that the forest aroWld the Mero site may have had a high percentage of conifers. Yet the presence of deer, a deciduous forest edge species, and the absence of other species commonly associated with coniferous forest habitat indicate that the forest was probably of mixed composition. Identifiable bird remains appear only in the upper midden, and with the exception of the robin, these are aquatic species. The loon and horned grebe are both residents of the area in all seasons of the year, the pintail duck and robin are both summer visitants, while the whistling swan occurs in Door CoWlty only as a transient during its migration period. This information is, of course, important in determining the seasons during which the site was occupied. The people who left the upper midden debris must have occupied the Mero site at least during early April and late October. 145
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
146
TABLE 21 ANIMAL SPECIES FORM THE MERO SITE, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Number of Bones
Species
Minimum Number of Pounds Individuals of Meat
Upper Midden 4 3 6 1 4 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 13 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
100 38 10 3 12.5 10 5 1 10 1.5 1
2 1 3 1
1 1 1 1
2 1 2 1
5 2 10
1 1 1
100 38 36
2
1
3
2 15
1 4
2 2
Deer Odocoileus virgznwnus Beaver Castor canadensis Porcupine Erthizon dorsatum Marten Martes americana Otter Lutra canadensis Dog Canis familiaris Common loon Cavia immer Horned grebe Podiceps auritus Whistling swan Olor columbianus Pintail duck Anas acuta Duck Anas Robin Turdus migratorius Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens Catfish Ictalurus White sucker Catostomus commersoni Smallmouth bass Micropterus
dolomieui White bass Roccus chrysops Wallye Stizostedion vitreum Drum Aplodinotus grunniens Total
36 3 2
51 Intermediate Midden
Deer Odocoileus virgznzanus Beaver Castor canadensis Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens Channel catfish Ictalurus
punctatus Largemouth bass Micropterus
dolomieui Walleye Stizostedion vitreum Total
36
147
APPENDIX D TABLE 21--Continued
Species
Minimum Number Number of of Bones Individuals
Pounds of Meat
Lower Midden
Deer Odocoileus virginianus Beaver Castor canadensis Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens Channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolmieui Walleye Stizostedion vitreum Drum Aplodinotus grunniens Total
2 1 10
1 1 1
100 38 36
2
1
3
1 3 1
1 1 1
2 2 1
20
The fish fauna of the Mero site is distinctly lacustrine. The sturgeon, channel catfish, and smallmouth bass have a strong preference for cool, clear lake shallows. Although the white sucker, white bass, walleye, largemouth bass, and drum sometimes appear in more turbulent waters such as large rivers, they are more often found in the shallows of large clear lakes. With the exception of the largemouth bass, these fish do not prefer warm water or places with a great deal of rooted aquatic vegetation. Those fish which do prefer this type of habitat-the yellow perch and the "pan fish, "-are absent from the Mero faunal assemblage. Thus, the people of the Mero site seem to have been fishing along a shore of a large cool body of water characterized by a clean bottom and few aquatic plants-most probably Lake Michigan. The absence of the fall spawning white fish and lake trout is negative evidence pointing to a spring and/or summer occupation of the site. On the other hand, the lack of great amounts of fish, which could be harvested during spring spawning runs, indicates that fish were not being exploited to greatest advantage. If the Mero site was occupied neither at the time of early spring nor late fall fish runs, then it was probably occupied only during the warmest summer months. However, the appearance of the whistling swan in the upper midden indicates that the seasonal occupations were extended into the fall at some time during this period. It should be noted that no bird or turtle bone was recovered from the intermediate midden. At this latitude turtles are good indicators
148
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
of summer occupation; and if the intermediate midden was a summer occupation, the remains of turtles should appear. In this case their absence is thought to be the result of human selection or of sampling error, TABLE 22 IDENTIFIED AND UNIDENTIFIABLE BONE FROM THE MERO SITE, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Lower
Intermediate
Upper
Totals
Percent
Percent of Each Class
Mammal Identified Unidentified Total
3
7
20
30
7.2
84
118
183
385
92.8
87
125
203
415
50.5
Bird Identified
0
0
9
9
60,0
Unidentified
1
0
5
6
30,0
1
0
14
15
Total
1.8
Turtle Identified
0
0
0
0
0
Unidentified
6
0
3
9
100,0
6
0
3
9
9
Total
1.1
Fish Identified
17
29
22
68
17.8
Unidentified
37
118
160
315
82,2
54
147
182
383
46,6
822
100,0
Total Combined Total
149
APPENDIX D TABLE 23 A
POUNDS OF MEAT REPRESENTED BY VARIOUS CLASSES OF ANIMALS AT THE MERO SITE, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Lower
Percent
Intermediate
Percent 73.8 26.2
173.5 18.5 48.0
100.0
240.0
Mammal Bird Fish
138 0 44
75.8 24.2
138 0 49
Total
182
100.0
187
B
Percent 72.3 7,7
~ 100.0
NUMBER OF IDENTIFIED SPECIES OF EACH CLASS OF ANIMALS AT THE MERO SITE
Lower
Percent
Intermediate
Percent
2 0 4
33.3
6
Mammal Bird Fish
2 0 5
28.6
Total
7
100.0
c
Upper
71.4
---
Upper
Percent
66.7
6 6 7
31.6 31.6 36.8
100.0
19
100.0
NUMBER OF IDENTIFIED INDIVIDUALS OF VARIOUS SPECIES OF EACH CLASS OF ANIMALS AT THE MERO SITE
Lower
Percent
Intermediate
Percent 22.2
Mammal Bird Fish
2 0 5
28.6 71.4
2 0 7
Total
7
100.0
9
Upper
Percent
77.8
6 7 7
30.0 35.0 35.0
100.0
20
100.0
150
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
The number of identified and unidentifiable bones of each class of animals is shown in Table 22. Although mammal and fish bone each comprise about 50 percent of the total sample, a computation of the amount of meat represented by these bones, shown in Table 23, indicates that nearly 75 percent of the meat consumed during the occupation of all three stratigraphic units was mammal. Most of the remaining 25 percent of the meat is fish. It is often useful to examine the number of species of each class as a gauge of the intensity of exploitation. The underlying assumption is that increased exploitation of a class will result in an increase in the number of species belonging to that class. Even when there is specialization for one species of a class there is generally increased exploitation of the class to which that species belongs. The number of individuals of each class is also shown in Table 23. Here we see that hunting seems to have remained sta,.ble through time while there was some decrease in the number of fish species. Jn this respect we see a quantitative as well as a qualitative difference between the fauna of the Middle Woodland component in the lower and intermediate levels and the Late Woodland component represented by the upper level. This data seems to indicate a decrease in the importance of fishing through time, perhaps as a result of more intense use of agricultural resources in conjunction with hunting. As an analytic device, however, more variables are eliminated in calculations based on pounds of meat represented by the sample. This technique shows little change in the frequency of meat obtained from mammals, birds or fish through time. The Heins Creek Site The Heins Creek site is located in Door County, Wisconsin near the Mero site. The occupation at Heins Creek by early Late Woodland peoples has been dated at A.D. 732±150. Jn the archaeological sequence of Door County the Heins Creek occupation can be temporally palced between the intermediate and upper level of the Mero site. The animal species identified from Locality 1 at the Heins Creek site are listed in Table 24, while Table 25 shows the frequency of identified and unidentified bone. With the exception of the :fisher, all the identified mammal species still occur, at least nominally, in Wisconsin. The bear, beaver and mink are rare in most parts of the state today but were once fairly abundant. The fisher is now found only in the boreal forest of Canada but once ranged farther south and was probably a common species to the
151
APPENDIX D TABLE 24 ANIMAL SPECIES FROM THE HEINS CREEK SITE, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Species Deer Odocoileus virginianus Beaver Castor canadensis Bear Ursus americanus Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus Fisher Martes pennanti Mink Mustela vison Common loon Cavia immer Red throated lool Cavia stellata Holboell's grebe Podiceps grisegena Horned grebe Podiceps auritus Pintail duck Anas acuta Duck Aythya sp. Passenger pigeon Ectopistes
migratorius Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens Northern pike Esox lucius Channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus White sucker Catostomus
commersoni
Number Number of of Bones Individuals
Pounds of Meat
5 11 4 1 1 1 3 2 4 1 1 1
1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1
100 76 210 2 7 0.5 5 5 3 1 1.5 1
1 1 12 2 7
1 1 1 1 1
0.5 0.5 36 3 3
10
4
8
15 9
5 2
10 4
92
31
477.0
Smallmouth bass Micropterus
dolomieui Walleye Stizostedion vitreum Total
152
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY TABLE 25 IDENTIFIED AND UNIDENTIFIED ANIMAL BONE FROM THE HEINS CREEK SITE, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Percent of Totals
Number of Bones
Percent Each Class
Mammal Identified Unidentified Total
23 272
7.8 92.2
295
42.8 Bird
Identified Unidentified
14 22
Total
36
38.9 61.1 5.2 Turtle
Identified Unidentified
0 34
Total
34
0 100.0 4.9 Fish
Identified Unidentified
55 270
Total
325
47.1
Combined Total
690
100.0
16.9 83.1
APPENDIX D
153
southern limits of the mixed coniferous-deciduous forests of the Carolinian-Canadian transition zone of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Two very interesting birds appear in the Heins Creek faunal assemblage-the red throated loon and Holboell' s grebe. Both birds nest in the Canadian arctic during the summer months but winter on the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts of the United States. Both birds are rare transients in Wisconsin, though the red throated loon occasionally winters on Lake Michigan. These birds are most numerous in Door County during October and November. The pintail duck, passenger pigeon and probably the crow are only summer visitants to this area and migrate southward for the winter. Only the common loon and horned grebe are permanent residents of Door County. Evidence from the presence of migratory birds in the Heins Creek midden indicates a summer and fall occupation of the site. The fish fauna of the Heins Creek site is lacustrine and gives definite indication of the type of aquatic habitat that Heins Creek peoples were exploiting. The sturgeon, channel catfish, white sucker, smallmouth bass and walleye all prefer clean relatively cool water in places where ther~ is a firm gravel or bedrock bottom with little or no tooted vegetation. The northern pike is the only representative of fishes such as the bowfin, bull heads, perch, largemouth bass' and the "pan fish" which prefer shallow marshy conditions with a profusion of aquatic vegetation. Here, as at the Mero site, the people seem to have been fishing neither in streams nor marshes but along the beaches of Lake Michigan. All in all, the Heins Creek fauna seems to be oriented toward the water. Fourteen of the twenty species identified live either in or near an aquatic environment. Only the deer, fisher, mink, bear, passenger pigeon and crow are at home away from water and even the crow and mink frequent the shores of lakes and streams. The fisher, bear and passenger pigeon are species typical of mature forest while the deer prefers forest edges. A calculation of the amount of meat represented by the animal remains at Heins Creek (Table 26) shows that mammals were far more important than birds or fish as a source of meat. Whereas the number of species of each class of animals was nearly equal, the number of individuals of these classes is not equally represented. Section C of Table 26 shows that 42 percent of the identified individual animals were fish. If this table can be used as a gauge of exploitative intensity, then fishing was employed more frequently than fowling or hunting, though the latter produced a higher yield in terms of food resources.
154
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY TABLE 26
POUNDS OF MEAT REPRESENTED BY VARIOUS CLASSES A OF ANIMALS AT THE HEINS CREEK SITE, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Mammal
Pounds
Percent of Total
395.5
82.9
Bird
17.5
3.7
Fish
64.0
13.4
4!77 .o
100.0
Total B
NUMBER OF IDENTIFIED SPECIES OF EACH CLASS OF ANIMALS AT THE HEINS CREEK SITE
Number of Species
Percent of Total
Mammal
6
30.0
Bird
8
40.0
Fish
6
30.0
20
100.0
Total C
NUMBER OF IDENTIFIED INDIVIDUALS OF VARIOUS SPECIES OF EACH CLASS OF ANIMALS AT THE HEINS CREEK SITE
Number of Individuals Mammal
7
Percent of Total 22.6
Bird
10
32.2
Fish
14
45.2
31
100.0
Total
APPENDIX D
155
FaWla Comparison of the Mero and Heins Creek Sites In view of the close areal and temporal distribution of these two sites, one would expect that their faunas would show a marked similarity. This is indeed the case. The faWlal assemblages from both sites contain species which are more or less typical of Door County today. The habitat preference of these species is, moreover, strongly associated with the aquatic habitat. Both sites seem to have been occupied at approximately the same season, that is, through the summer probably into the early fall. Although the faWlal sample is very small, some observations can be made on the change of subsistence pattern through time. Looking first at the amoWlt of meat provided by each class of animals (Table 27), we see little change in the quantity of mammal meat which varies between 72 percent and 82 percent. There is also little variation .in the quantity of fish which provides 13 percent of the meat at Heins Creek to 26 percent at the intermediate midden at Mero. The meat provided by fowl shows a slight increase through time. Few, if any, fowl were exploited during the first two occupations at the Mero site -birds providing 3. 7 percent of the meat at Heins Creek and 7. 7 percent at the upper midden at Mero. Table 27 shows the number of individual animals identified from each occupation and the number of identified species. These two tabulations show similar trends; hunting seems fairly constant through time, fishing seems to decrease in the Heins Creek and Late Woodland occupation at Mero, and there is a corresponding increase in the number of fowl taken during these latter two occupations. These three techniques of comparison, as well as the faunal list, show that the subsistence patterns of the two Middle Woodland occupation at the Mero site are very similar to each other, and at the same time different from the subsistence patterns of the Late Woodland occupations at Heins Creek and the upper midden at Mero. While the lower and intermediate occupations at Mero were probably of shorter term than the upper midden and the Heins Creek occupations, there seems to have been more emphasis on fishing during the earlier period. It is also evident that people of the later period exploited a greater number and wider range of animal species. Both sites seem to have been occupied during the summer months, but the two Late Woodland components were apparently of longer duration and extended into the fall season.
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
156
TABLE 27 QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF THE FAUNA OF THE MERO AND HEINS CREEK SITE
Stratigraphic Units
Mammal
Percent
Bird
Percent
Fish
Percent
Number of Identified Species of Each Class Mero Upper Midden
6
31.6
6
31.6
7
36.8
Heins Creek
6
30.0
8
40.0
6
30.0
Mero Intermediate Midden
2
33.3
0
4
6607
Mero Lower Midden
2
28.6
0
5
71.4
Number of Identified Individuals of Each Class Mero Upper Midden
6
30.0
7
35.0
7
35,0
Heins Creek
7
22.6
10
32.2
14
45.2
Mero Intermediate Midden
2
22.2
0
7
77.8
Mero Lower Midden
2
28.6
0
5
71.4
48
20.0
Pounds of Meat Represented by Various Classes of Animals Mero Upper Midden
173.5
72.3
18.5
7.7 3.7
Heins Creek
395.5
82.9
17.5
64
13.4
Mero Intermediate Midden
138
73.8
0
49
26.2
Mero Lower Midden
138
75,8
0
44
24.2
APPENDIX E ANIMAL REMAINS FROM THE JUNTUNEN SITE, MACKINAC COUNTY, MICHIGAN
The JWltWlen site (20 MK 1) is located 17 feet above the present level of Lake Huron on the western tip of Bois Blanc Island which lies about two and one half miles north of Cheboygan in the Straits of Mackinac. Bois Blanc is separated from RoWld Island to the west by a shallow channel approximately one quarter mile in width. Through this channel passes the main current draining Lake Michigan into Lake Huron. To the northwest of Round Island, and separating it from Mackinac Island, is a wide deep channel of the drowned Mackinac River which connected Lakes Michigan and Huron during the Chippewa-Stanley low water stage. The water surrounding Bois Blanc Island is extremely clear with a transparency of fifteen meters. July surface temperature is approximately 18 degrees Centigrade (64.4F .) which is about the coldest surface reading in the Lake Huron basin. Although the dynamics of the water mass of Lake Huron is not well known, it appears to be subject to tremendous seasonal variation (Ayers, Anderson, et al. 1956). We can, however, for the purposes of this study, characterize the waters near Bois Blanc Island as being cold and extremely clear. The waters off the northeastern and western tip of Bois Blanc may well be classified as shoal areas. Waters less than 18 feet in depth extend more than a mile and one-quarter northwest of the site and there is an area of water less than 12 feet in depth extending southwestward more than one-half mile into the lake. Water exceeding no more than 6 feet in depth may be found as far as 500 to 900 feet from the shoreline of the western tip of the island. These shallow areas are, therefore, quite extensive and, as we shall see, very important in the subsistence economy of JWltunen site peoples. The JWltunen site itself is situated on a low sand beach ridge approximatley 600 feet from the lake shore. This beach is Wldoubtedly an eroded remnant of a post- Algoma beach. To the east of the site there is a series of higher beaches of the earlier 157
158
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Lake Nipissing stage. Beyond these beaches to the east, the island is quite low with lakes and extensive conifer swamps. The low sandy coastal area between the lake and the highest Nipissing beaches are covered with pines and swamp conifers but with local deciduous stands in the better drained areas. On the western end of the island in the area above the Nipissing beach the flora consists of sugar maple, beech, elm, yellow birch, hemlock, white pine and other conifers. The remaining low areas of the island, particularly behind the coastal strip and over' all of the eastern end of the island, are forested with sugar maple, yellow birch, elm, basswood, white birch, beech, white pine, fir, spruce and cedar. These two zones may be readily observed as the dark coastal conifers contrast sharply with the light deciduous trees of the interior. The western end of Bois Blanc Island enjoys slightly more than 140 frost-free days per year, while the eastern part of the island has less than 140 frost-free days. Though the difference seems slight, 140 frost-free days is critical for the cultivation of maize. The mean July temperature on most of the island is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit while the mean January temperature is 16 degrees to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The mean annual precipitation is 28 to 30 inches. It is interesting to note that there is a decrease in both length of growing season and mean annual temperature both to the north of Bois Blanc in the Upper Peninsula and to the south in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. Both of these areas are considered to be ones of floral and faunal transition between the more northern and southern biomes. For the purposes of this paper, the biotic provinces set up by Dice (1943) were used as a general classificatory device to show the floral and faunal affinities of each species recovered from the Juntunen site. According to Dice's scheme the Upper Great Lakes transition area is called the Canadian province. The southern boundary of this province is coterminous with the most northerly dominance of the oak-hickory community and the southern limit of the white and Norway pine community (Dice 1932). South of this line in northeastern United States is the Carolinian province characterized by the beech-maple climax association with oak-hickory representing an important successional stage. The northern limit of the Canadian province includes all important stands of sugar maple, white and Norway pine (Dice 1938). The province north of this line is called Hudsonian and is characterized by the typical boreal forest. We are thus, in effect, dealing with the flora and fauna of three provinces-the larger Hudsonian and Carolinian provinces with rather well defined assemblages, and
APPENDIX E
159
an area of transition, the Canadian biotic province. The latter is characterized by the blending of the species of the two larger provinces. In addition, we have a zone of transition between the Carolinian and Canadian provinces which extends as far north as the western end of Bois Blanc Island. The Juntunen site is located in this zone. The location of the Juntunen site in the geographical center of the Canadian province, yet technically located in the Carolinian- Canadian transition zone, places it in an ideal position for the study of ecological change since minor climatic fluctuations should result in noticeable changes in the biotic assemblage. Since there is an area of conifer dominance to the south of Bois Blanc Island in the north-central area of the Lower Peninsula, a cooling of the climate should result in the influx of northern Canadian and Hudsonian species from the south as well as from the north. The species typical of the Carolinian province would, of course, also be derived from the Lower Peninsula and particularly from the western margin of the Lower Peninsula since the Carolinian-Canadian transition zone extends farthest north in this region (Figure 1, p. 6). The Juntunen site on Bois Blanc Island is separated from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan by two and one half miles of water. The exact effect of the site's location in an isolated insular situation will not be discussed in full since it is thought to have had little effect on the large majority of species recovered from the site, namely, fish, birds and large mammals. To be sure, the small mammals and reptiles are probably affected to a greater or lesser extent and there are indeed several small species which seem to have become isolated on the island. Some parts of Bois Blanc Island have probably been free for occupation since the retreat of the high waters of Glacial Lake Algonquin at about 9000 B.C. After about 8000 B.C., during the ChippewaStanley low water stage, Bois Blanc was connected with the Lower Peninsula and separated from the Upper Peninsula by only the Mackinac River. During the Nipissing stage at approximately 2000 B.C. lake waters again covered most of Bois Blanc Island, but since that time it has retained most of its present area. Since the period 10,000 years ago, when the island was connected to the mainland, the only passage to and from the island for animal life would have been flying, swimming, rafting, or more likely, passage across the winter ice. A detailed report on the depositional history of the Juntunen site was completed by Mr. Henry T. Wright when he was working for the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan. The
160
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOOY
following account is a synopsis taken directly from his report. Mr. Wright (n.d.) divides the stratigraphic sequence into 26 discrete geological units. These are in turn grouped into 6 cultural units or levels of occupations. The earliest extensive level of the site is a humus zone of a forest podzol, and the first major occupation is found on this soil formation. Presumably, this level was occupied at about A.D. 825±75 (M-1142, Crane and Griffin 1961:110). The forest cover was apparently removed during this first occupation so that this occupation was followed by a period of rapid and intense sand deposition over all of the site. This is level B. Cultural material of this level is bedded within the sand deposit and there was apparently no stable surface or soil formation. The 1.5 feet of sand deposited in this level is thought to be a result of a five foot rise in lake level. Level C is short period of soil stabilization which is evidenced by a weak meadow soil over most of the site. The cultural occupation of level C has been dated at A.D. 900±75 (M-1141, Crane and Griffin 1961:110), and is followed by a period of deposition which accumulates up to 0.3 feet of sand on the forefront of the site. A major period of meadow soil formation followed the accumulation of sand. This horizon, level D, has been dated at A.D. 1060±75 (M-1140, Crane and Griffin 1961:110). By this time the deposition of sand and continual clearing of undergrowth had led to a significant change in the morphology of the site. That is to say, the destruction of the podzol formation and its micro flora would greatly increase the amount of time required for replacement of the climax forest vegetation. Continued clearing during the occupation of level D again allowed wind action to denude the site and this led again to sand deposition in level E. During much of this time the site was deserted. The growth of vegetation permitted stabilization and building of a meadow soil under a thick grass cover during the last aboriginal occupation which perhaps took place as late as A.D. 1320±75 (M-1188, Crane and Griffin 1963:233). This has been designated as level F. Cultivation activities in the 19th and 20th centuries have obscured the nature of subsequent deposition. It is believed, however, that the site never regained its climatic forest cover. In summary, Mr. Wright's reconstruction shows a long series of meadow soil formations separated by periods of sand deposition following the primary removal of the forest cover. The exact relationship between cultural occupations and meadow soil formation has not been evaluated but it seems apparent that there is some connection between the two. There is also reason to suppose that the periods of sand deposition may in fact be at least partially due to aboriginal clearing activities.
APPENDIX E
161
Besides affording an excellent opportunity for studying ecological and climatic change through time, the analysis of faunal remains from the Juntunen site is of equal importance as a study of the subsistence economy in the Upper Great Lakes area. This site seems, in fact, to be representative of a widespread and fairly specialized cultural adaptation around the margins of the Upper Great Lakes during the Late Woodland period. Sites of this type are distributed along the coast and on small coastal islands on the northern shore of the Lower Peninsual of Michigan, the northern and southern shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the north shore of Lake Huron, in the Georgian Bay area and to some extent on the northern shore of Lake Superior; more simply stated on the lake shores of the Canadian province. These sites are rather large villages characterized by heavy accumulations of pot sherds, charcoal, and fish bone and, for the most part, seem to have been summer fishing stations. The importance of fishing in the subsistence of these people has long been recognized. Rostlund (1952) called this type of subsistence pattern the Inland Fishing Complex. Hickerson (1962) documents the importance of this pattern for the northern Ojibwa of Wisconsin. Jenness (1935) in his description of the Ojibwa of Parry Island gives a very excellent description of this type of economy and the seasonal activities involved. From December to March, families were scattered in their hunting grounds hunting large and small game. Families were generally camped several miles apart. The period between early February and mid March was the hardest for people utilizing this subsistence pattern. After March the Ojibwa often moved into maple groves to collect sap for sugar, during the same time fish were speared. In about mid April the Ojibwa hunted small game, as the larger game was in poor condition. Fish, however, were the staple dietary element from May throughout the summer. La Potherie in 1753 reports that the principal fish caught by the Ojibwa were whitefish and sturgeon and that the latter were speared in the vicinity of the islands of Lake Huron during the summer (Blair 1911). The abundance of fish and wild plant foods during the summer months made it economically possible for family groups to again meet and reside in villages. It was also during these' summer encampments that gardens were planted, although garden products were, according to Perrot, of little importance in the economy of the Ojibwa (Blair 1911). From early November to early or mid December the village group was occupied with the spearing of whitefish and lake trout which spawn during these months. With the completion of fishing actvities the Ojibwa again
162
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
broke up into family groups and dispersed for winter hunting. Alexander Henry spent the year of 1763 traveling with an Ojibwa family ih the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The journal of these wanderings has recently been published in an excellent article by George I. Quimby (1962). Even at this late date, this detailed account confirms in every respect the seasonal movements and activities reported by ethnographers and other early travelers. Although we can neither prove that the peoples occupying the Juntunen site were proto-Ojibwa, nor that this site represents a seasonal stage in this type of subsistence pattern, we can say, on the basis of the seasonal character of the available and exploited resources, that the latter assumption is quite likely. This is especially probable since the Canadian province as a whole is climatically unsuited for large scale agriculture and as an ecological zone probably never supported large big-game populations, such as the deer, which supplied a large part of the subsistence base farther south. Fish were, therefore, the only other abundant and reliable resource available. One of the major contentions of this study is that large aboriginal villages of the Upper Great Lakes were sustained and attained economic stability through an adaptation specialized in the exploitation of fish resources. The analysis and interpretation of faunal material from archaeological sites involves several complex variables. These are in turn usually compounded by lodll problems at each site. There are two such problems at the Juntunen site (1) i:he great quantity of bone material and (2) the complexity of the stratigraphic sequence. Before dealing with general problems and pro. cedures, it is best to discuss these specific problems of the Juntunen site. Although bone remains are well preserved, as we shall later see, they are extremely fragmentary. This condition leads to a definite bias in the quantitative analysis, as quantitative reconstructions can be based only on the minimum number of known skeletal elements of each species. If the bone material is fragmentary, this sort of precise identification becomes nearly impossible. Very fragmentary remains can be identified no more precisely than mammal, bird, fish, etc. with identification based upon the structure of the bone itself. Thus, the actual number of identified species is small in relation to the total amount of bone present. The sample of identified remains is further reduced when a stratigraphic analysis is undertaken. Since the stratigraphic sequence at this site is so complex, less than onefourth of the site's provenience units can accurately be assigned to any of the recognized occupation levels. Thus, the number
APPENDIX E
163
of species assignable to any one of the levels is also reduced. Unfortunately, this reduction has made it necessary to group occupation levels in order to obtain samples of comparable size. For instance, levels B and C, as well as E and F had to be combined in the qualitative stratigraphic analysis although those levels could be considered separately in quantitative analysis. One other general problem of faunal analysis needs special attention, namely, the effect of human selection on the faunal sample. Animal remains recovered from archaeological sites do not, in any sense, represent a random sample of the kinds of species or numbers of species found in the general area of the site when it was occupied. Instead, these remains represent those species which were selected from all the species available for exploitation. It would be foolish to assume that every species which was present in an immediate natural environment of the site is also present in the site deposit, or that the frequency of species in the site has any relationship to the frequency of the species in the natural environment. To be sure the frequency of the archaeological remains of a species may be, and often is, a reflection of the natural frequency of that species. It is, however, also a reflection of selection frequency. Judgments concerning a species' presence or absence from a site must, therefore, be made on the basis of a complete faunal assemblage which must be reconstructed from that part of that assemblage which happened to be selected. MAMMALS Black Bear (Ursus americanus) The black bear once ranged over most of the North American continent and, thus, occurs in a wide range of habitats. It is known to occur on islands and has been reported from Mackinac Island just west of Bois Blanc (Burt 1954). The black bear hibernates from late January until early spring and though it was probably hunted the year around, it could seldom be found during hibernation (Jenness 1935). Marten (Martes americana) The present distribution of the marten is limited to the Hudsonian and northern Canadian provinces. This species inhabits large, dense coniferous forests. Its former range extended to the central part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Except for recent introductions into the Porcupine Mountafns of the Upper Peninsula, it is absent from the state.
164
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOOY
Mink (Mustela vison) The mink originally ranged over most of North America. It is most frequently found near water during the summer months and in woods during the winter. River otter (Lutra canadensis) The otter is adapted to an aquatic existence and is found along lake, river and stream banks throughout its wide range. Eastern chipmunk fTamias striatus) The eastern chipmunk ranges eastward from the Great Plains through the Canadian and Carolinian provinces. It inhabits hardwood forest and forest edges but is uncommon in swampy woodlands. This species burrows and is, no doubt, intrusive into many of the Juntunen site deposits. Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) To a large extent the red squirrel inhabits evergreen forests, but also occurs in deciduous woodlands. Formerly, the red squirrel may have been more closely assoicated with coniferous forests than it is at present. Beaver (Castor canadensis) The beaver once ranged over most of North America where there were lakes and streams with wooded shores. On Bois Blanc Island the beaver inhabits both the lake shore proper and the inland swamps, although, it is undoubtedly more common in the swampy areas. Beaver was hunted in all seasons of the year but probably most frequently in the winter and early spring. Woodland deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) The woodland deer mouse ranges over much of the northeastern and the western United States and throughout the boreal forest of Canada. This species is restircted to woodlands and seldom ventures into the open. Most of the Juntunen deer mice are probably intrusive. Southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi) The range of the southern bog lemming covers the Canadian and Carolinian provinces. Its habitat includes bogs, meadows and
APPENDIX E
165
swamps with thick ground vegetation. This species is one which burrows so that it may well be intrusive into the archaeological deposit. Red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) The range of this species extends from the Canadian tundra south through the Hudsonian and Canadian provinces. The redbacked vole may be found in northern deciduous and conifer swamps and other moist situations. This vole may also be intrusive. Muskrat (Ondatra zibethica) This aquatic species has a wide range covering almost all of North America and is always found in association with water courses and wet places with abundant marsh vegetation. Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) Although the p-orcupine is now almost exclusively a resident of the northern coniferous forests, there is some evidence that its range formerly extended farther south into the deciduous forests. These animals are slow, easy to capture and were available throughout the year. Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) The snowshoe hare extends southward to the southern limits of the Canadian province. Throughout its range this species prefers dense conifer swamps and thickets. Burt (1954) reports that the snowshoe presents an easy target to archers as the swish of passing arrows does not seem to alarm it, thus allowing several shots. Whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) The whitetail deer occurs throughout the southern deciduous forests and reaches its northern limit at the northern margin of the Canadian province. It does, however, become increasingly scarce to the north with increasing dominance of climax coniferous forest. This species is typically associated with edge situations between forests and open areas. The deer takes readily to water and has been reported on several islands in Lakes Michigan and Huron.
166
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Moose (Alces alces) Although the moose is now absent from all of Michigan except Isle Royale in Lake Superior and an occasional stray in the Upper Peninsula, it formerly reached the southern margin of the Canadian province. The moose prefers forested regions where there are numerous swamps and shallow lakes. Woodland caribou (Rangijer caribou) This species is restricted to the coniferous forest of the Hudsonian and Canadian provinces. It is now absent from Michigan but once ranged over all of the northern part of the state including several of the larger islands of Lake Michigan. The woodland caribou prefers large bogs and swamps and moist coniferous woodlands. Domestic dog (Canis familiaris) The dog is, of course, a companion of man and is to be found in close assoication with him. The dogs of the Juntunen site appear to be of a rather homogeneous population. A more detailed description of these dogs is included in a later section of this report. The mammalian fauna of the Juntunen site could be said to be typical of the Canadian biotic province in that this province itself is one of transition between the northern boreal Hudsonian province and the southern deciduous Carolinian province. The marten, red squirrel, red-backed vole, porcupine, snowshoe hare, moose and caribou are most typical of the Hudson ian province, while the eastern chipmunk, southern bog lemming and the whitetail deer are more often thought of as being representative of the deciduous Carolinian province. The other species present have ranges which encompass both larger natural areas as well as their transition zone. One striking feature is the homogeneity of the habitat preference of many of these species. We find that those species which prefer moist woodlands, bogs and conifer swamps dominate the faunal assemblage. These include the bog lemming, red-backed vole, snowshoe hare, the moose and caribou. In addition, the mink, otter, beaver and muskrat are found in or very near aquatic situations. We thus have a picture of the general terrain as being composed of lowlands, bogs and swamps dominated by a largely coniferous forest Several mammal species which are typical of the Canadian transition zone do not appear in the Juntunen faunal assemblage.
APPENDIX E
167
Their absence is due either to sampling error, selective hunting or the absence of the species from the area. Absent species include the raccoon, fisher, long-tailed and short-tailed weasel, wolverine, skunk, red fox, timber wolf, lynx, cougar, bobcat, gray squirrel, northern flying squirrel, the meadow vole, cotton-tail rabbit and the elk. Many of these species reach their northern limits near Bois Blanc Island and these may have been entirely absent. These include the raccoon, long-tailed weasel, cougar, gray squirrel, southern flying squirrel, the cottontail rabbit and the elk. Other species such as the weasel, the flying squirrel and many of the smaller mammals are rather secretive and probably were not collected by aboriginal hunters. There is, moreover, no apparent reason why such species as the fisher, wolverine, skunk, red fox, the wolf, lynx, cougar, and the bobcat would not be killed and they most certainly were pre.sent. These species are the medium to large carnivores and most or, at least, some of these species usually appear in Late Woodland refuse deposits. It is suggested that the absence of these species may be in part due to religious practices or food taboos. The mammals of the Juntunen site are not of much help in determining the season of the site's occupations as all these species were available and were hunted throughout the year. Since historic records and ethnographies from this area tell us that large mammals were hunted almost exclusively in the winter months (Kinietz 1940; Jenness 1935), the problem of relating these remains with seasonality is thus a quantitative problem. BffiDS Common golden-eye (Bucephala clangula) The golden-eye is a summer and/or winter resident of the Juntunen site area. This bird is one of the more common diving ducks. Canada goose (Branta canadensis) This goose is only a summer resident in the Bois Blanc area. Common loon (Cavia immer) The common loon is a summer resident in this area. It is also a rare winter resident. This big, fish-eating bird inhabits large, deep lakes. It is hard to approach on open water as it dives and swims great distances under water. It is, how-
168
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
ever, virtually helpless on land. Nesting takes place in the vegetation on the edges of lakes. Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) The ring-billed gull is a permanent resident of this area. Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia) This tern is a summer resident of the Upper Great Lakes. It is often found is association with the ring-billed gull. Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) The goshawk is a permanent resident in this area. habitat is the forest and especially coniferous forest.
Its
Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) This hawk is a summer resident of the Upper Great Lakes. It inhabits both wooded and open areas, but is most common in swampy, moist woodlands where it replaces the red-tailed hawk, which prefers dry woodlands. Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) This large bird is a summer resident of this area. It is always found near water where it feeds mainly upon fish refuse. Barred owl (Strix varia) This owl is both a summer and winter resident over all of its range. The barred owl is commonly found in wet or swampy woodlands where it is the nocturnal counterpart of the red-shouldered hawk. Saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) This tiny owl is our smallest bird of prey. It is a permanent resident of the Great Lakes area and is extremely tame. Its habitat is chiefly coniferous forests and swamps. Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) The ruffed grouse is a permanent resident over all of its range. It frequents woodlands with openings and second growth.
APPENDIX E
169
Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) The turkey was a permanent resident within its former range. The turkey is an inhabitant of extensive deciduous woodlands. The northern limit of its original range was coterminous with the northern edge of the Carolinian province as it transects Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The occurrence of turkey remains at the Juntunen site exceeds by 200 miles its most northern historic range. Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) The blue jay is a permanent resident in the Upper Great Lakes area. It inhabits wooded areas and edges. Common crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) This bird is probably a summer resident in the Bois Blanc area. Its habitat is variable and it often feeds on carrion. Common raven (Corvus corax) The raven's range extends southward to the southern edge of the Canadian province in the Eastern United States; it is a permanent resident over all of its range. The raven is a wary bird and frequents shorelines in this region where it feeds on dead fish and molluscs. Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) Although this bird is now extinct, it was once extremely abundant. The passenger pigeon was a summer resident and nested in large colonies, mostly in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It is known to have nested in both Emmet and Cheboygan counties in mid March. This pigeon is thought to have begun its southward migration in early September. (Mershon 1907) In a general summary of the avian fauna of the Juntunen site, we find several interesting things on which to elaborate. For a site located on the water and whose peoples relied heavily on aquatic resources there were surprisingly few ducks, especially in view of their usual abundance even in strongly agricultural sites. The only identifiable duck present was the golden-eye. On the other hand, the most abundant avian species was the common loon, an extremely wary aquatic bird. The loon may have been taken either in fish gill nets or perhaps along the shore while
170
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
it was nesting. Perhaps the absence of the diving, fish-eating ducks, the mergansers, is negative ev"idence in support of the theory that they were captured while nesting. Many of the other birds of this site are carrion eaters. These include the bald eagle, Caspian tern, ring-billed gull, the crow and the raven. There is little doubt that these birds would be enticed by fish-strewn Indian villages. The passenger pigeon and Canada goose were probably extremely abundant during the spring and fall seasons. Absence of juvenile birds of these species indicate, however, that they were collected in the summer and/or fall seasons. The Canada goose, loon, red-shouldered hawk, Caspian tern, bald eagle, crow and passenger pigeon were available only from spring to fall, while the other species are permanent residents. Even though many summer resident ducks which would be available only during the warmer months are absent, so are many ducks which are winter visitants to the Great Lakes area. The avian fauna thus indicates that the Juntunen site was occupied at least during the ice-free months of the year. The raptorial bird remains recovered give us a nice idea of the ecology of the island itself. The red-shouldered hawk, barred owl and the saw-whet owl are all inhabitants of coniferous swamp areas, while the goshawk prefers dryer coniferous forest. The red-shouldered hawk and its nocturnal counterpart, the barred owl, here replace the red-tailed hawk-great horned owl relationship of drier forests. The occurrence of the wild turkey some 200 miles north of its historic range leads one to suspect that the range of this bird was at some periods extended northward. Perhaps this northward extension reflects a warm climatic period. There is evidence for the use of at least two species, the loon and the bald eagle, in religious activities. REPTILES Snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) The snapping turtle has, by and large, a southern distribution although it extends northward throughout the Canadian province. This species is an aquatic turtle which seldom basks. Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) This turtle is confined in its distribution to the Carolinian and Canadian provinces. It prefers shallow marshes, ponds and
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171
lake banks where there is a profusion of aquatic vegetation. It is the most conspicuous turtle in most northern areas, often basking for long periods (Conant 1958}. Blanding's turtle (Emys blandingi) The range of the Blanding's turtle is largely confined to the Canadian province though its spotty distribution to the south and east may be relic populations of a wider distribution during cooler periods. Although essentially aquatic, this turtle may frequently be encountered on land in areas where marshes and bogs are plentiful. The occurrence of these three turtle species at the Juntunen site is another strong indication of a summer occupation, as these three species are available only during the warm parts of the year. There is a great deal of evidence that turtles were collected in order to use their hard bony carapaces for implements. Although a more or less extensive modern survey of the amphibians and reptiles of Bois Blanc has been made, none of these species have been collected. They may be, however, still extant on the island. FISH
Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens} The lake sturgeon is a bottom living fish of the shallow waters of lakes and large rivers. It was formerly extremely abundant in the Great Lakes and the large rivers of the Great Lakes drainage. Maximum availability was reached in the spring when the sturgeon ascended the large rivers or concentrated in shallow lake waters for spawning. This species may attain sizes up to 300 pounds in the Great Lakes, but the average size is probably more on the order of 20 pounds. The sturgeon was probably the most important single species in the subsistence of the Indians of the Upper Great Lakes. Almost every historic record of sturgeon fisheries in this area mentions that the fish were taken with spears (Carver 1818; Jenness 1935; Schoolcraft 1820}. According to Rostlund (1952}, sturgeon were captured in the Great Lakes region with both nets and spears, but spears and sturgeon are mentioned together so frequently in the old sources that the sturgeon fishery among some tribes of the region can be considered a specialized or standardized spear fishery. Technically speaking, these references to spearing are probably inaccurate. Archaeological "spearheads" in the Great Lakes area are usually harpoons, in that the head becomes detached
172
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
from the shaft, and the fish is held by a line which is attached to the butt of the harpoon point. Longnosed gar (Lepisosteus osseus) This species reaches its northern limit of distribution in the area of Bois Blanc Island. One of the common habits of the gar is to bask near the surface of the water on warm days at which time it can be easily approached. The gar is quite often taken in gill nets as its long, beak-like mandibles are readily entangled. Spawning takes place in shallow waters in the spring. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) The lake trout is a large fish averaging from between 5 to 10 pounds in the Great Lakes, but reaching weights of 50 pounds. In the Great Lakes Basin this fish is confined mainly to the large lakes themselves because only these are deep enough to supply the cold, well oxygenated water to which the lake trout retires during the summer months. In late October or early November the lake trout becomes accessible when it moves into shallow water to spawn on rocky shoals. The same spawning areas are selected year after year (Scott 1954). Mter spawning, this species usually returns to deeper water. Whitefish (Coregonus sp.) The whitefish which occurs on the Juntunen site has not been identified to species, but the general size of the whitefish remains indicates that these are largely the remains of the lake whitefish C. clupeiformis. This fish originally attained weights of up to 20 pounds, but probably averaged between 5 and 10 pounds. All whitefish inhabit the deep, cool waters of lakes. It is a fall spawner and moves into shallow shoal areas near the end of November or the beginning of December for this purpose. Like the lake trout, whitefish are available in quantity only during the spawning period. Rostlund (1952) points out that two of the most famous whitefish spawning grounds were the Straits of Mackinac and Sault Sainte Marie. The most economical method of catching this species, and the one most frequently mentioned in historical records, is with nets. Gill nets as well as scoop nets were often employed in this respect (Rostlund 1952; Catlin 1926). However, the whitefish also was frequently taken with spears by the Ojibwa of Parry Island (Jenness 1935).
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173
Northern redhorse sucker (Moxostoma aureolum) This sucker seldom reaches a length of more than 20 inches. It is a bottom feeder which is available in tremendous quantity
in the spring when it spawns on clean gravel bottoms of streams and lake edges. Silver redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum) This species is commonly found in the larger lakes and rivers and it may exceed the northern redhorse in size often reaching 2 feet in length. The silver redhorse also spawns in the spring in the shallow waters of lakes and streams at which time it can be easily taken with a spear. White sucker (Catostomus commersoni) The white sucker's average weight is about 2 pounds. This fish makes annual spawning runs in late May or early June at which time it ascends small streams or shallow shoal areas of lakes in great numbers. Modern fishermen catch large numbers of these suckers with dip nets during the spawning period. It is, however, available throughout the year in shallow lake waters. Longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus) The longnose sucker is generally a little larger than the white sucker, sometimes attaining weights of over 5 pounds. This species frequently spawns at the same time and in the same place as the white sucker. It differs from the latter in that it frequents cooler and deeper water (Scott 1954). Brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) The brown bullhead averages about 1/2 pound in size. It prefers quiet, weedy, mud bottomed lakes. Spawning takes place in late spring, usually beneath an overhanging bank. Channel catfish (lctalurus punctatus) The channel catfish is the largest catfish of the Great Lakes. It occasionally reaches a weight of 30 pounds, and 10 to 15
pound fish are common. This species prefers cooler and cleaner water than most other catfish. Spawning takes palce in shallow water during the spring.
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PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Northern pike (Esox lucius) Although the northern pike may reach 20 pounds, its average size is probably closer to 3 or 4 pounds. This fish frequents the shallow waters of lakes during the warm summer months where it floats just beneath the surface. The pike seeks deeper water in the fall and winter. After the ice breaks up in the spring, the pike again returns to shallow water to spawn. Yellow perch (Perea flavescens) The yellow perch is an extremely common fish in the Great Lakes, but seldom exceeds 1 pound in weight. The perch spawns in shallow waters, usually in late April or early May. Due to the general small size of this fish, it was probably taken in nets. Yellow walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) This fish is one of the most common of the Great Lakes drainage. The average weight of the walleye is probably between 3 and 5 pounds, but it sometimes reaches 20 pounds. Walleyes spawn in the spring shortly after the ice breaks up. Spawning takes place in 1 to 5 feet of water on shoals. This fish remains in shallow water during the early summer, but may seek deeper water in the late summer. Sauger (Stizostedion canadense) The average weight of this fish is less than a pound. Its life habits are similar to the walleye which it resembles except that the sauger will frequent more muddy bottoms and more turbid waters. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) This species prefers warm weedy waters. Spawning takes place in the spring and each fish has a nesting site which it vigorously defends. The average size of the largemouth is between 2 and 3 pounds. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) This species is somewhat smaller than the largemouth bass. The spawning habits of the two fish are similar, although the smallmouth prefers cooler and clearer waters than the largemouth (Scott 1954).
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Rock bass ( Amblaplites rupestris) This fish is frequently found in the shallow waters of lakes. It is usually smaller in size than the smallmouth bass, weighing
on the average about 1/2 pound. The habitat of the rock bass is similar to that of the smallmouth. Freshwater drum (Apladinatus grunniens) The freshwater drum is a southern species which reaches its northern limit in the vicinity of Bois Blanc Island. It occurs in all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. The most northern record of the drum in Michigan, according to the files of the Fish Division of the University of Michigan Museums, is frorr. Au Sable Point, although a fossil drum cranium has been reported from a Nipissing age marl deposit in Cheboygan County (Hubbs 1940). The drum is a bottom dwelling fish which has been known to attain weights up to 10 pounds. Fish weighing about 2 pounds are average. This species frequents shallow waters with muddy or sandy bottoms and is a spring spawner. The fish fauna of the Juntunen site, even more than the avian fauna, gives us a clue to the season the site was occupied. The abundant occurrence of sturgeon indicates that the site must have been occupied at least by late spring and probably soon after the ice went out. We may also be quite sure from the abundant whitefish and lake trout that the site was occupied until late November or early December when these fish spawn. The fact that these latter species were only abundantly available in shallow waters at this season is excellent evidence for occupation at this season. Most of the fish species at the Juntunen site are those which prefer cool clear waters with sand or gravel bottoms, the only exception is the brown bullhead. It must be noted that essentially all the large fish of this region are represented in this sample. There are, in fact, only four notable exceptions-the burbot (Lata lata), the bowfin (Amia calva), the muskellunge (Esax masquinangy), and the quillback carpsucker (Carpiodes cyprinus). The quillback carpsucker and bowfin both reach the northern limit of their ranges in the region of Bois Blanc Island and perhaps were not present. The bowfin is, moreover, an extremely repugnant looking fish, at least by modern standards, and was perhaps avoided. The burbot is, like the whitefish and lake trout, a deep-water fish throughout most of the year. It becomes available only during spawning which
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PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
takes place from January to March. The absence of the burbot may be taken as additional evidence in support of an April to December habitation period or at least fishing period. Burbot remains have been reported from the 1715-1761 French settlement at nearby Fort Michilimackinac (Cleland n.d.). The muskellunge was most certainly available in the Bois Blanc waters and no reasonable theory can be put forth to explain its absence. However, this species does appear to be very rare in the middens of prehistoric s"ites. The total fish fauna of the Juntunen site, of course, represents only a small sample of the species actually present in the waters of the Mackinac Straits area. Those species whose remains are missing include the many smaller species of minnows, chubs, etc. The exploitation of larger fish to the exclusion of the smaller species is a clue to the fishing method. The use of nonselective fishing techniques such as the seine, pound net, trap, and weir generally produces a more representative sample of the total fish fauna. This is to say, small fish as well as large fish are taken. Although people living on the Juntunen site made cordage, as is evident from the cord impressed decorations of their pottery, there are several good reasons for arguing that these people did not fish with nets. These reasons are as follows: (1) The sheer work involved in making and repairing primitive nets, if these nets were used to catch such large and strong fish as lake trout or sturgeon, would make this type of fishing impractical. (2) As we have pointed out, remains of small and medium sized fish are very scarce on the site. (3) No fishnet sinkers have been reported from the Juntunen site. In the early historic period nets did not seem to be too popular in this immediate region. According to Smith and Snell (1891) seines were introduced to the Mackinac Island fishing community in 1840, but they were not a success; they also reportedly failed again at a later time. In the early history of Mackinac, the Indians were largely dependent upon their spears for their fish supply and that kind of apparatus was extensively used. There are, however, two arguments for the possibility that net~ were used by these people: (1) the frequent mention of gill nets in early historic accounts; and, (2) the tremendous quantity of whitefish remains at the Juntunen site, a fish not easily speared. It, therefore, seems reasonable to reject the idea that small mesh nets or traps were used, but to consider the likelihood of the use of large mesh gill nets for whitefish. Another fishing technique, the use of fishhooks is easily dismissed by the following arguments: (1) Fishing with hooks
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(angling) is not, under ordinary circumstances, a profitable way to exploit fish resources. (2) The two main species represented at this site, the sturgeon and whitefish, feed on small organisms and seldom take a hook. (3) The tremendous quantity of fish from the site infers a more profitable exploitative technique. (4) No fishhooks were recovered from the Juntunen site. Harpoon fishing, on the other had, appears to have been an important exploitative technique at this site as evidenced by the four points below. (1) It is the larger fish of the large species which are represented at the site. (2) Harpoon fisheries are economically productive where fish are large and very abundant. (3) Almost all the historic accounts of Indian fisheries in the Upper Great Lakes mention "spear" fishing. (4) Harpoons were recovered from the site. There, thus, seems to emerge a rather clear picture of the Juntunen site fishing which can, no doubt, be expanded as a representative of a highly developed Late Woodland inland shore fishery in the Upper Great Lakes region. This fishery complex exploited a variety of fish species as they became abundant during the early spring and late fall spawning periods. In addition, fish resources played an important part in the summer economy. It cannot be emphasized enough that the two major spawning periods were those which were critical in the fishing pattern. The spring spawning period was crucial in that it occurred just at the time when other animal and plant resources were most scarce. Thus, fishing in this area significantly raised the minimum quantity of food resources available, and, therefore, afforded a corresponding increase in the level of population densityQ The fall spawning period was likewise important as it supplied a fish store for the winter period. All species whose remains were recovered from the Juntunen site are listed in Table 28. In order to proceed with a general habitat analysis, all of the terrestrial species are assigned to the biotic province and habitat with which they are most closely associated. In assigning species to these specific provinces and habitats, cognizance has been taken of the fact that their ranges are seldom restricted to these categories. For general purposes, however, it is within these geographical and ecological boundaries that they occur most frequently. A 2 is used to designate primary distribution within a particular category while a 1 denotes an area of secondary importance. Those species whose ranges are so wide as to include more than two of the categories are classed as cosmopolitan.
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL ECOLOGY
178
TABLE 28 ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRIBUTION AND HABITATS OF THE JUNTUNEN SITE FAUNA Biotic Distribution
Habitat bJl 0
I=!
ll1
-4-' ..... ......
'"0
C"1
0
lD ,...
,...
~
00
51 8
0'> C"1
0'> C"1
t-
~
,...
,...z
,... ~
00
C"1
Number of Bones
4 1
1
33
C"lil.
0'> .....
,......,
lD .....
,... 1=1
~
'"0 0
Ul
~
8 6 4 1
214 29 17 14
C":: 0'> C"1
C"::
C"1
~
C":: 0'> C"1
C"::
~
0
'*...,
1
2
3
2
2 1 1 5
2
143
FAUNAL REMAINS FROM THE MOCCASIN BLUFF REFUSE PITS
TABLE 38
3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1
4 4 3
39 31 18 15
58
934 178
E-